--- title: Tom Petty Died of Cardiac Arrest. What Does That Mean? description: Unlike other forms of heart trouble, cardiac arrest occurs suddenly and often without notice. canonical: https://time.com/4966859/tom-petty-cardiac-arrest/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-03T14:07:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:42:18.744Z article:section: Health og:title: Tom Petty Died of Cardiac Arrest. What Does That Mean? og:description: It's different than a heart attack og:url: https://time.com/4966859/tom-petty-cardiac-arrest/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0fb870500c814c64/6988e038096a94250b69fd29/tom-petty1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: KAABOO Del Mar og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Tom Petty Died of Cardiac Arrest. What Does That Mean? twitter:description: It's different than a heart attack twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0fb870500c814c64/6988e038096a94250b69fd29/tom-petty1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Tom Petty Died of Cardiac Arrest. What Does That Mean? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. 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It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=4fda2003-0c20-4cf6-b16d-b6576a68ed75&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Sarah Klein / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Sarah Klein / Health.com Contributor Oct 3, 2017 2:07 PM UTC  DEL MAR, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 17: Tom Petty performs in concert on the third day of KAABOO Del Mar on September 17, 2017 in Del Mar, California. (Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images) DEL MAR, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 17: Tom Petty performs in concert on the third day of KAABOO Del Mar on September 17, 2017 in Del Mar, California. (Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images) Gary Miller—Getty Images by [Sarah Klein / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Sarah Klein / Health.com Contributor Oct 3, 2017 2:07 PM UTC [Tom Petty died](http://time.com/4966674/tom-petty-rock-legend-dies-66/) Monday at age 66 in Los Angeles after entering cardiac arrest. “He suffered cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu in the early hours of this morning and was taken to UCLA Medical Center but could not be revived. He died peacefully at 8:40p.m. PT surrounded by family, his bandmates, and friends,” Petty’s manager said [in a statement to PEOPLE](http://people.com/music/tom-petty-dead-cardiac-arrest/). Cardiac arrest falls under the umbrella of [heart disease](http://www.health.com/heart-disease), which kills around 610,000 Americans every year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But unlike other forms of heart trouble, cardiac arrest occurs suddenly and often without notice. Cardiac arrest is caused by an electrical malfunction in the heart that stops the heart from beating. This can be caused by an irregular heartbeat (called an arrhythmia), a heart attack or [coronary artery disease](http://www.health.com/heart-disease/coronary-artery-disease). No matter the cause, when the heart stops beating, blood is no longer pumped through the body, which leads to loss of consciousness. The same factors that put someone at risk for heart disease increase her chances of cardiac arrest. That includes having [high blood pressure](http://www.health.com/hypertension), high [cholesterol](http://www.health.com/cholesterol) or a family history of cardiac arrest and other forms of heart disease. Without immediate treatment, cardiac arrest is often fatal. About [350,000 cardiac arrests](http://cpr.heart.org/AHAECC/CPRAndECC/AboutCPRFirstAid/CPRFactsAndStats/UCM%5F475748%5FCPR-Facts-and-Stats.jsp) happen each year outside of a hospital setting, and 90% of those people die from the event. But with emergency medical attention, cardiac arrest often can be reversed. When used within a few minutes, a defibrillator can shock the heart back into a normal rhythm. And now, portable defibrillators, or [AEDs](http://www.health.com/heart-disease/cardiac-arrest-gym-aed-bob-harper), are available in many public spaces (like sports arenas, gyms, malls and restaurants) for bystanders to use. You just follow the instructions and voice prompts. Hands-only CPR can also help someone in cardiac arrest until an emergency medical team arrives. To give someone in cardiac arrest hands-only CPR, press down firmly on the center of their chest at a rate of about 100 to 120 times per minute. _This_ [_article_](http://www.health.com/heart-disease/cardiac-arrest-tom-petty/?xid=time) _originally appeared on_ [_Health.com_](http://health.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4966859/tom-petty-cardiac-arrest/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4966859/tom-petty-cardiac-arrest/"},"headline":"Tom Petty Died of Cardiac Arrest. 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