Tom Petty hospitalized

[dirac]

After massive cardiac arrest. Let's hope that the reports of his death turn out to be greatly exaggerated.

 

Quote

Around 1 p.m. Monday, CBW News reported that it had confirmed the death of the rock musician. The news apparently came from the Los Angeles Police Department, which later clarified over Twitter that the agency had “no information” about the singer and “no investigative role” in his health.

 

Petty is 66 years old.

[pherank]

Sadly, he was beyond recovery. RIP Mr. Petty.

 

Tom Petty, a Mainstay of Rock With the Heartbreakers, Dies at 66

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/arts/music/tom-petty-dead.html

[sandik]

The radio has been full of his work today, reminding me how much of his music has been a part of the zeitgeist.

[dirac]

The Heartbreakers had a wonderful sound, you could always tell it was them. Very bright and articulate man, always a good interview subject. I saw him recently on an early episode of the HBO documentary series “The Defiant Ones” about Jimmy Iovine and Dr Dre. Iovine was producing the Heartbreakers and there were complications involving the Petty song “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” which launched Stevie Nicks’ solo career, and it was an interesting glimpse of how getting radio airplay and the timing of album release could work in those days.

 

He seemed like a pretty levelheaded guy, I hope the toxicology report is nothing like Carrie Fisher’s, who also died of cardiac arrest.

 

Quote

The radio has been full of his work today, reminding me how much of his music has been a part of the zeitgeist.

 

Petty was still getting a decent amount of airplay, so I didn’t immediately think anything when suddenly “Refugee” and “Here Comes My Girl” came on. (Unlike when Donna Summer joined the majority, when as soon as I heard “Last Dance” and “I Feel Love” I thought, “Oh, Donna must have died.”

 

We're now down to two remaining Traveling Wilburys....

 

[sandik]

I didn't see The Defiant Ones, mostly because I don't get HBO, but I was thinking about seeking out the episode about Iovine -- here's another reason to make the effort.

 

[dirac]

11 minutes ago, sandik said:

I didn't see The Defiant Ones, mostly because I don't get HBO, but I was thinking about seeking out the episode about Iovine -- here's another reason to make the effort.

 

 

There’s this revelatory clip of Iovine in the studio with Nicks making her first solo album, and Nicks with her backup singers very politely raises an issue about one of her songs and Iovine just walks right over them (“I feel like I’m surrounded by a bunch of lawyers heah”).  Somehow I don’t think he talked to Petty or Springsteen that way.

[miliosr]

32 minutes ago, dirac said:

Somehow I don’t think he talked to Petty or Springsteen that way.

Or Patti Smith

[kfw]

3 hours ago, dirac said:

 

That Dylan-Petty tour was the one time I saw Petty. Not that I haven't always loved his hits, and appreciated his integrity too, but my favorite Petty moment remains their duet on the Davis Sisters classic "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know."  

[dirac]

I hadn't heard that before, kfw. Thank you so much for the link.

[dirac]

Well, the coroner's report is out, and it's a doozy.

Quote

Fentanyl is an ultra-powerful opioid with far greater effects than street heroin.  It’s also the same drug that killed Prince.  In both cases, the drugs were prescribed — though Prince created an intricate network of runners with bogus prescriptions to feed his addiction.

Also swimming in Tom Petty’s system: oxycodone, temazepam, alprazolam, and citalopram.  And a Diet Coke.

Related.

Quote

An autopsy found that Petty had a number of drugs in his system at the time of his death: fentanyl, oxycodone, emazepam, alprazolam, citalopram, acetyl fentanyl, and despropionyl fentanyl

 

[canbelto]

Coroner reports like these always make me so sad to read  I can't even imagine being a family member and reading them.

[pherank]

6 hours ago, dirac said:

Well, the coroner's report is out, and it's a doozy.

Related.

 

It's hard not to make a joke about the Diet Coke, but I'll refrain. Fentanyl alone is enough to kill someone, but the array of problematic drugs in Petty's system pretty much guaranteed a bad result. I have to wonder if Petty was seeing various doctors and purposefully keeping the prescriptions a secret from each doctor.

Edited January 23, 2018 by pherank

[dirac]

Not just fentanyl, but three different kinds. (!)

I wouldn't place the blame entirely on Petty. Celebrities seem to have a much easier time obtaining prescriptions than ordinary folk.

[sandik]

A music colleague said that Petty may have been performing with a broken hip -- another place where "the show must go on" has dire consequences.

And yes, I didn't know that there were three different kinds of fentanyl.  The drug was a godsend when my partner's mother was dying of cancer, but I remember the hospice nurse showing us how to deal with the patches -- she drilled us that we always needed to be wearing gloves, that we should never, ever touch the pad, and that we absolutely had to dispose of it in a separate bag that they would collect.  This was several years ago, and protocols may have changed, but the impression she left us with was that it's an extremely powerful drug.

[canbelto]

I too am amazed at how many opioids the celebrities have that were obtained by prescription. I recently had some really painful dental work done where the doctor said "take advil." Very helpful. 

[dirac]

Fractured hip aside, it appears that Petty was on this prescription bouillabaisse for a long time, for various “ailments.” Some no doubt perfectly genuine, like Prince’s, but after a point I suspect it becomes a case of using the ailments to go to doctors to get at the drugs, as pherank notes, rather than taking medications for temporary relief.

Hank Williams was born with spina bifida, which caused him pain all his life, even after surgery as an adult, and he started drinking around age 11 or 12. On the other hand, without the spina bifida he might have gone right into the lumber business, and obscurity. I wonder what fate he would preferred. But I digress.

[sandik]

On 1/25/2018 at 3:24 PM, dirac said:

" prescription bouillabaisse "

Hank Williams was born with spina bifida, which caused him pain all his life, even after surgery as an adult, and he started drinking around age 11 or 12. On the other hand, without the spina bifida he might have gone right into the lumber business, and obscurity. I wonder what fate he would preferred. But I digress.

A smarty description above. 

We never know what aspects of someone's life move them to the arts, and what aspects keep them from doing their work -- most of the time it's a big mystery.