Petty was born October 20, 1950, in Gainesville, Florida, the first of two sons of Kitty (nee Avery), a local tax office worker, and Earl Petty, who worked in a grocery store. He had a brother, Bruce, who was seven years younger. His interest in rock and roll music began at age ten when he met Elvis Presley. In the summer of 1961, his uncle was working on the set of Presley's film Follow That Dream, in nearby Ocala, and invited Petty to watch the shoot.
Petty was found unconscious at his home, not breathing and in full cardiac arrest, early in the morning of October 2, 2017. He was taken to the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, where he died at 8:40 pm PDT that evening. After reports of Petty's hospitalization, premature reports of his death spread quickly and widely, and without official denial or confirmation, continued throughout the day until the band's management issued official confirmation shortly after Petty's actual death Monday evening. While the official announcement said Petty collapsed early Monday morning, original reports claimed the incident happened Sunday night. Petty's funeral took place at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery on October 16, 2017. On January 19, 2018, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner announced that Petty had died from an accidental overdose of prescription pain medication, and that the autopsy had found a number of drugs in his system: fentanyl, oxycodone, acetylfentanyl and despropionyl fentanyl (all opioids, two illegal fentanyl analogs); temazepam and alprazolam (both sedatives); and citalopram (an antidepressant). In a statement on his official website, Petty's family revealed that he had suffered from multiple medical problems; those medical problems included emphysema, knee difficulties, and a hip fracture that occurred on Petty's final tour. Petty was prescribed pain medication for these issues. The statement, which was signed by Petty's wife Dana and daughter Adria, noted that Petty was informed on the day of his death that his fractured hip had graduated to a full break; the statement read, in part, that "[it] is our feeling that the pain was simply unbearable and was the cause for his over use of medication.[..] We feel confident that this was, as the coroner found, an unfortunate accident."

Q: when did he die?
A: October 2, 2017.

Q: how did he die?
A: accidental overdose of prescription pain medication,

Q: where did he die?
A: UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California,
how old was he?
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