# Tom Petty suffers cardiac arrest \[Update: RIP\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 2, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821 "2017-10-02T19:32:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/121 "2017-10-11T04:00:02Z")
I actually think, as I’ve said repeatedly, that he’s the only “elder statesman” of rock who consistently produced great music in the 21st century, so many decades after first becoming famous in the 1970s. In most cases, if you sample a later-period Stones or McCartney record for instance, it might be moderately listenable or it might be really crappy, but Petty’s stuff was still great even long after it stopped making a splash on the charts, on the radio, or in the culture. **Drad dog** obviously disagrees, and that is his/her right; but was it really necessary to make this assertion in an RIP thread? **EinsteinsHund** , where did you hear the new album? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/122 "2017-10-11T15:41:56Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > …That’s because the foundation of popular music at least since the Beatles here IS this music. I was raised on rock, though my parents never got it, but they had some compilation LPs that got T. Rex songs among all those awful German Schlager,… Interesting. Can you point to some YouTube videos with this Schlager music? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/123 "2017-10-11T16:22:08Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Interesting. Can you point to some YouTube videos with this Schlager music? I’m very reluctant, because Schlager is a genre which is IMHO almost 100% crap, and I loathe it, but here you go: From the seventies: [Tony Marshall - Schöne Maid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-b6yv7r2LA) [Heino - Blau blüht der Enzian](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de8cgY6baBE) And temporary (I still can’t believe I post this crap here, but don’t say I didn’t warn you): [Helene Fischer - Atemlos durch die Nacht](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2czABFw6RnE) Now you’ll understand why many Germans had/have to console themselves with rock’n’roll… ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/124 "2017-10-11T16:23:25Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > **EinsteinsHund** , where did you hear the new album? I heard it on my account on [deezer.com](http://deezer.com), a streaming host. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/125 "2017-10-11T16:29:06Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I’m very reluctant, because Schlager is a genre which is IMHO almost 100% crap, and I loathe it, but here you go: > > From the seventies: > > [Tony Marshall - Schöne Maid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-b6yv7r2LA) > > [Heino - Blau blüht der Enzian](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de8cgY6baBE) > > And temporary (I still can’t believe I post this crap here, but don’t say I didn’t warn you): > > [Helene Fischer - Atemlos durch die Nacht](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2czABFw6RnE) > > Now you’ll understand why many Germans had/have to console themselves with rock’n’roll… Well, the last link wasn’t available in my country (Canada) but, yeah, I’ve been tortured enough. 😉 Thanks! ETA: I found another version of the last one. At least she’s pretty! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/126 "2017-10-11T21:08:44Z")
Sitting in a bar after work and “Refugee” is playing. It’s clearly going to take me some time to get over this, as it did with John and George. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/127 "2017-10-12T02:30:17Z")
Yeah, me too. To most of the people I know, Petty was some guy who played some songs they probably heard of. For whatever reasons, Tom’s music meant a lot more to me…I can’t say how many hours of pleasure I’ve gotten from listening to his recorded works and attending his live performances. What makes it especially sad for me is knowing he was in severe pain on the last tour because of a fractured hip. Watching the clip of American Girl from his last performance he looks, to my eye, fragile as hell. Apparently he didn’t want to treat his injury and have to reschedule shows and disappoint the fans. He didn’t owe us that at all. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/128 "2017-10-20T23:09:19Z")
Giving this a bump. I heard on the radio that today would have been Tom Petty’s 67th birthday. RIP, Tom. Wish you were here. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/129 "2017-10-21T00:47:49Z")
[The vampires moved west down Ventura Boulevard last night](http://www.laweekly.com/music/tom-petty-memorial-vampire-walk-brought-free-fallin-lyrics-to-life-on-ventura-boulevard-8775026) ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/130 "2017-10-21T16:53:47Z")
I listened to _Wildflowers_ while making my usual Saturday morning pancake breakfast this morning. What a great album. I’m sad that I never got to see him in concert. I tried to gather a group of friends to go when his 2008 tour was passing through the city where I lived at the time, but nobody else wanted to go. Losers! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/131 "2017-10-21T17:12:44Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > I’m sad that I never got to see him in concert. I tried to gather a group of friends to go when his 2008 tour was passing through the city where I lived at the time, but nobody else wanted to go. Losers! Losers, indeed. That tour was the one time I got to see him live, and it was a great show. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/132 "2017-10-24T07:37:40Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > [The vampires moved west down Ventura Boulevard last night](http://www.laweekly.com/music/tom-petty-memorial-vampire-walk-brought-free-fallin-lyrics-to-life-on-ventura-boulevard-8775026) Nice. Wish I could have been there. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/133 "2018-01-20T00:55:50Z")
[Tom Petty Died of Accidental Overdose, Family Says](https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/celebrity/tom-petty-died-of-accidental-overdose-family-says/ar-AAuUVlV?li=BBnbfcL) > [@](#): > > According to the Los Angeles coroner, “Multisystem organ failure due to resuscitated cardiopulmonary arrest due to mixed drug toxicity” was the cause of death. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2018, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/134 "2018-01-20T01:07:44Z")
Yeah, COPD and opioids are a dangerous mix. But if you’ve got pain from bone grinding on bone, you’re going to seek relief. The article spins it as a deadly mix of legit prescriptions taken for legit medical diagnoses. That may even be true. Not that it really matters. A pity nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2018, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/135 "2018-01-20T01:14:49Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Yeah, COPD and opioids are a dangerous mix. But if you’ve got pain from bone grinding on bone, you’re going to seek relief. > > The article spins it as a deadly mix of legit prescriptions taken for legit medical diagnoses. That may even be true. Not that it really matters. > > A pity nonetheless. What could they have done to relieve pain instead of increasing opioids? Was there some surgery, support or some other medication which was less likely to result in overdose? Can people kinda function on doses of CBD or ketamine high enough to dull that kind of pain? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2018, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/136 "2018-01-20T01:37:14Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > What makes it especially sad for me is knowing he was in severe pain on the last tour because of a fractured hip. Watching the clip of American Girl from his last performance he looks, to my eye, fragile as hell. Apparently he didn’t want to treat his injury and have to reschedule shows and disappoint the fans. He didn’t owe us that at all. ☹ Double ☹ ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2018, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/137 "2018-01-20T01:58:46Z")
That mix of drugs would kill anybody. > [@](#): > > An autopsy found that Petty had several drugs in his system including fentanyl, oxycodone, temazepam, alprazolam, citalopram, acetylfentanyl and despropionyl fentanyl, the agency said. > **[Tom Petty died of accidental drug overdose, coroner's office says](https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-tom-petty-drug-cause-death-20180119-story.html)** > > Rocker Tom Petty died last year from “multisystem organ failure” caused by accidental drug toxicity, the Los Angeles County coroner said Friday. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2018, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/138 "2018-01-20T02:15:15Z")
Tom was very good at disguising just how badly he was hurting. His last interview. He had a lot of plans. > **[Tom Petty's final interview: There was supposed to have been so much more](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-tom-petty-the-final-interview-20171004-story.html)** > > This is not the Tom Petty story that I intended to write. > [@](#): > > “This year has been a wonderful year for us,” he said now, sipping a cup of coffee he’d just poured at 4:30 in the afternoon and sinking into the plush sofa. > > \ > But he did not see it as the end. There was supposed to have been so much more to come. Should have, would have, could have come. > > Petty was excited about producing a second album for the upstart L.A. rock band he’s been championing the last couple of years, the Shelters. > > “They’ve been on the road for a year and we got together recently,” he said. “They played me some of their new stuff and I was just blown away.” > > He was looking forward to continuing his involvement with the Tom Petty radio channel for the SiriusXM satellite radio service, including the show he organizes and hosts personally, “Tom Petty’s Buried Treasure,” in which he picks songs that he loves. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2018, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/139 "2018-01-20T02:19:47Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > That mix of drugs would kill anybody. That mix of drugs is dangerous, but not an automatic death sentence for everyone. Some folks with tolerance skate by death daily while taking that combo. Mixing benzos with opioids is very high risk, of course. I suspect those fentanyl variations may be metabolites of fentanyl rather than representing an additional drug ingestion. But taking oxycodone and fentanyl along with two different benzos is stacking risk on top of risk. Citalopram is an SSRI of course, and probably didn’t contribute too much to the demise. Probably. Local/Regional pain blocks, TENS units, meditation/relaxation therapy, NSAIDs like ibuprofen or meloxicam, acetaminophen, all could have played some role in reducing pain levels. Even pot might have helped, though studies hint that it may be much less helpful for acute bone pain. But pain’s a bitch to treat sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2018, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821/140 "2018-01-20T04:47:44Z")
He needed to have that hip fracture repaired. He must have had some astonishing pain tolerance to be performing on a broken hip! And he probably wasn’t taking multiple kinds of fentanyl; those were indeed metabolites that may or may not be active. In any case, RIP. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-petty-suffers-cardiac-arrest-update-rip/797821.md?page=8)