Music

Tom Petty’s daughter sent heartbreaking Instagram dispatches as the rock star clung to life

Tom Petty on stage for a soundcheck in Burbank during a May 1987 tour. (Bob Carey)

In the hours before Tom Petty died Monday evening, after the rock star suffered from cardiac arrest and was hospitalized Sunday, his youngest daughter, Annakim Violette, posted a series of dispatches on Instagram that provided a window into the hope and heartbreak the family was experiencing.

Though one of Violette’s posts lashed out at a publication that prematurely reported Petty’s death, most of the dispatches were full of expressions of love and images from Petty’s life as a rock icon and devoted family man.

One detail Violette shared was that Petty “had matching stage clothes made” for himself and his daughter. “When I got the call to come to the hospital,” she wrote in a post showing a piece embroidered with skulls, hearts and diamonds, “I grabbed this jacket and I’m still wearing it.” (See the Times photo below of Petty wearing the jacket.)

As the day wore on and conflicting reports emerged about Petty’s condition, Violette revealed that members of her father’s Heartbreakers band had arrived at the hospital. She also shared her memories of attending Petty’s Hollywood Bowl concert, which was just last week.

Finally, as official confirmation came that Petty had died, she posted an image of her dad’s debut album “Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers,” and the simple message “RIP.”