TOM PETTY died of an accidental overdose due to a mixture of medications, his family has revealed. THE HEARTBREAKERS frontman passed away last October shortly after completing a tour celebrating the band's 40th anniversary. He was 66 years old.

 

According to a statement from the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, PETTY was taking several medications, including Fentanyl, oxycodone, Xanax, Restoril, and Celexa.

 

The coroner's report lists his official cause of death as "multisystem organ failure due to resuscitated cardiopulmonary arrest due to mixed drug toxicity."

 

In a statement posted Friday (January 19) to the TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS Facebook page, PETTY's widow, Dana, and eldest daughter, Adria, said that the medical examiner informed them Friday morning of the accidental overdose. "On the day he died, he was informed his hip had graduated to a full-on break and it is our feeling that the pain was simply unbearable and was the cause for his overuse of medication," they wrote.

 

Dana and Adria said that they "feel confident that this was, as the coroner found, an unfortunate accident," and they hope PETTY's death leads to a greater conversation about the country's tragic opioid crisis. "Many people who overdose begin with a legitimate injury or simply do not understand the potency and deadly nature of these medications," they wrote.

PETTY wrapped his 40th-anniversary tour with THE HEARTBREAKERS on September 25 at Los Angeles's Hollywood Bowl.

 

TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2002.