Tom Petty's Daughter AnnaKim Violette Remembers Her Favorite Moments With Her Father Before His Death
Hours before Tom Petty‘s death, AnnaKim Violette Petty shared photos of herself and her famous rockstar father, recalling their private moments and her cherished memories.
The youngest of Petty’s two children, AnnaKim Violette, 35, commemorated her father’s life in a series of Instagram posts made as she sat in the hospital with her dad following his cardiac arrest.
One of her first Instagram posts was a touching photo of herself and the “Free Fallin'” singer, writing, “We are all a mirror of divine love.”
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We are all a mirror of divine love
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In another, the daughter of Petty and his first wife Jane Benyo, shared a still from her father’s 1985 track “Don’t Come Around Here No More” revealing a special private daily family tradition.
In several other photos she posted on her Instagram, she shared her love for her father, writing, “I love you my angel ??.”
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AnnaKim Violette detailed how her the “American Girl” singer would include her in his creative process while he was on tour, writing, “My dad had matching stage clothes made for me as a kid this jacket still fits me made by Glen Palmer from granny takes a trip when I got the call to come to the hospital I grabbed this jacket and I’m still wearing it??”
Devastated but wanting to share what was going on with fans, the 35-year-old also posted a picture of herself inside her dad’s hospital room.
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She described Monday as “the longest day of my life” and revealed that her father’s song, “96 Tears” was the first her father taught her to play.
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She later revealed that the rest of the Heartbreakers had arrived at UCLA Medical Center, where her father had been taken in the early hours of Monday morning after suffering from cardiac arrest.
“Band is here with my dad sweetest coolest people ????????we are one,” she wrote in the caption of a photo of the band.
Band is here with my dad sweetest coolest people ????????????????we are one
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He made all his dreams real ??
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AnnaKim Violette wrote that her father’s music was “real American Art made from the roots of real people who deeply love life.”
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“my father loves music more than anything and always put music first,” she continued. “it’s going to be healing to know I will never go a day without hearing his music. I love his class honesty and how strange and funny he is.”
She went on to honor her father’s musical legacy, calling him “an American icon because his heart has always put human rights first.”
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Shortly after Oetty’s passing at 8.40pm PST, the artist shared a photo of her father in his youth in front of a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers backdrop, writing in the caption, “RIP??.”
Petty died Monday of cardiac arrest in Los Angeles, PEOPLE confirmed. He was 66.
Petty’s longtime manager released a statement to PEOPLE, saying, “On behalf of the Tom Petty family we are devastated to announce the untimely death of 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 8:40p.m. PT surrounded by family, his bandmates and friends.”
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He was married to Benyo for 22 years before the duo split in 1996. Petty shared two daughters with Benyo — Adria, a film director, and AnnaKim Violette, an artist.
In 2001, he wed Dana York Epperson, whom he met in 1991 when she attended his concert.
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