Tom Petty‘s death was due to an accidental drug overdose after he took a variety of pain medications.
An autopsy for the “Free Falling” singer showed that he had taken several medications — including patches for the opioid Fentanyl, his family said in a statement on Friday.
Petty was prescribed the meds due to his emphysema and a fractured hip.
“Despite this painful injury he insisted on keeping his commitment to his fans and he toured for 53 dates with a fractured hip and, as he did, it worsened to a more serious injury,” the family said in a Facebook post.
“On the day he died he was informed his hip had graduated to a full on break and it is our feeling that the pain was simply unbearable and was the cause for his over use of medication.”
The singer died at UCLA Medical Center on Oct 2 after going into cardiac arrest.