Initial erroneous Tom Petty death reports cause confusion
LOS ANGELES — For several hours Monday, music lovers believed Tom Petty was dead.
Courtney Love, Talib Kweli, Kid Rock, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Stanley and Lin-Manuel Miranda were among scores of fans posting remembrances on Twitter, where Petty was the top worldwide trending topic Monday afternoon. A memorial was scheduled for his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
But the 66-year-old entertainer was still alive at the time, and news outlets that announced his death Monday were forced to retract their stories. The Walk of Fame tribute was cancelled.
The reports, as it turned out, were merely premature. Petty’s publicist confirmed late Monday that the rocker died at 8:40 p.m. after having suffered cardiac arrest.