Tom Petty's family confirms his death

New York - Rocker Tom Petty died on Monday after suffering cardiac arrest, his family confirmed, hours after news organisations retracted unconfirmed reports of his death.

"On behalf of the Tom Petty family we are devastated to announce the untimely death of our father, husband, brother, leader and friend Tom Petty," a family statement said.

Petty - the singer with his band The Heartbreakers of hits such as I Won't Back Down and Free Fallin - suffered cardiac arrest early on Monday at his home in Malibu, the family said.

He was taken to a Los Angeles hospital but could not be revived and at 20:40 (03:40 GMT) "died peacefully... surrounded by family, his bandmates and friends," the statement said.

Celebrity news site TMZ and Rolling Stone magazine had earlier reported that he had already died, triggering an outraged denial from Petty's daughter on social media.

SEE HER POST HERE:

Kimberly Violette Petty then proceeded to share memories of her dad before confirming his death in her last post.

Alongside a photo of Tom, she wrote: "RIP"

SEE THE POST HERE: