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Celebrities React To The Tragic News Of Tom Petty's Death

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Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc.
After CBS news first reported that legendary singer Tom Petty passed away after going into cardiac arrest, celebrities took to Twitter to post their heartbreaking reactions to his death. Petty was put on life support after he was found unconscious and not breathing in his home in Malibu on Sunday night. He was 66 years old.
The rock singer first rose to fame with his band Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers in the 1970s. However, his solo songs, like "Free Fallin'," dominated the charts as well.
His final live performance was last week at the Hollywood Bowl for the band's 40th anniversary tour. Petty had previously told Rolling Stone that he thought this tour would be the band's last.
"It's very likely we'll keep playing, but will we take on 50 shows in one tour? I don't think so. I'd be lying if I didn't say I was thinking this might be the last big one. We're all on the backside of our sixties. I have a granddaughter now I'd like to see as much as I can. I don't want to spend my life on the road. This tour will take me away for four months. With a little kid, that's a lot of time."
According to Grammy.com, The Beatles were his biggest inspiration after he saw them perform on The Ed Sullivan Show.
"This was the great moment in my life, really, that changed everything. I had been a fan up to that point. But this was the thing that made me want to play music," he said. "It did have a great profound effect on my life, and I thank them for that. I still think the Beatles [made] the best music ever, and I'm sure I'll go to my grave thinking the same thing."
In 1974, Petty married his first wife, Jane Benyo, before they later got divorced in in 1996. Together, they share two children, daughters Adria and AnnaKim Violette. In 2001, the singer was remarried to Dana York.
Click ahead to see how celebrities are handling his tragic death.
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