The family and friends of the late ‘I Won’t Back Down’ hitmaker gathered at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades, California to celebrate the life of the famous musician, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 66.
His daughter AnnaKim Violette shared a picture of a black and white photograph of her late father on display during the service and captioned it: “The dark of the sun we will stand together.”
Tom’s sad death – which was a result of cardiac arrest – was announced by his manager in a statement.
He said at the time: “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. 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 8:40 p.m. PT surrounded by family, his band mates and friends.”
When Petty’s passing was announced, celebrities flooded social media with tribute messages for the singer.
Taylor Swift said: “To me, Tom Petty represented a kind of songwriting I idolised: complex simplicity. It said so much in the lyrics, the concepts, the stories, the message, the nuances … but always brought you back to a hook that got stuck in everyone’s head. He motivated thousands of guitarists to learn to play just because they wanted to be able to play ‘Free Fallin’. Count me as one of them.”
Whilst Meat Loaf added on his own page: “More sad news today with Passing another great Rocker Tom Petty , Great Writer with classic songs that marked a time in many peoples lives , loving fans who he also loved . The world lost a great one today . He still lives with us in his music . As his daughter said earlier today a normal guy who loved what he did . Our prayers go out to Tom and his family … Gone too soon !! Tom lives on with the memories he left us, and the love he gave . Prayers to Tom and his family.”
Last week, it was reported that Tom’s official cause of death is still yet to be confirmed.