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Last update: 23/11/17

It’s just the Rock’n‘Roll way of life. Whatever the obvious excesses – and Lord knows there’s enough of them to choose from – perhaps it’s too much of that nomadic night time existence. Back in the ’90s, Tom Petty reportedly had a very bad heroin habit, and one that would leave him with both muscle and bone pain.

More recently, and celebrating forty years on the road with The Heartbreakers, their iconic frontman had required daily vitamin B12 shots — roughly 30 or 40 units a day — just to give him the energy to perform. In severe pain, Petty was due to have a hip replacement and was exhausted from working his butt off. His wife and family implored him to rest up, but he had vowed to finish his latest tour for his fans. After being a hardcore road warrior for most of his career, Petty was forced to cancel three shows in late August 2017 because he was too ill to take the stage.

The writing was on the wall. Less than six weeks later, on Oct. 1, Tom’s second wife, Dana, frantically called 911 at around 10:50 p.m. after finding him unconscious on the floor of their Malibu home. He would never recover. ‘Free Fallin’ indeed ……………………