Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have led tributes to the late Tom Petty.

Ringo Starr's tribute to Tom Petty (c) Twitter

Ringo Starr's tribute to Tom Petty (c) Twitter

The 66-year-old musician passed away on Monday (02.10.17) after having life support turned off following a cardiac arrest, and the two Beatles legends are among the stars to have used social media to pay their respects to the 'American Girl' hitmaker.

Paul tweeted: "Sending love to Tom Petty and his family at this difficult time."

His former bandmate shared a throwback picture of himself interviewing Tom and wrote: "God bless Tom Petty peace and love to his family I'm sure going to miss you Tom (sic)"

John Meyer was left heartbroken by the death of one of his idols.

Alongside a broken heart emoji, he tweeted: "I loved Tom Petty and I covered his songs because I wanted know what it felt like to fly. "you belong somewhere you feel free." (sic)"

Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock, Jon Bon Jovi and Josh Groban struggled with the musician's loss in the wake of the horrific mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, which saw 58 people killed and hundreds injured.

Sheryl posted: "This is unbearable. Vegas and now a great music hero has passed. You brought us so much joy, @tompetty. We will miss you. #RIPTomPetty (sic)"

Kid Rock added: "Just when I thought today could not get any worse... R.I.P. Tom Petty. Thank you for your beautiful music and inspiration.(sic)"

Jon shared: "I'm crushed... Praying for all those affected by Vegas last night.

And now the loss of one of my great influences Tom Petty today. -JBJ (sic)"

And Josh wrote: "What a horrid day for our country, music fans and music itself. RIP Tom Petty. His songs are always good medicine. Love to his family.(sic)"

Following confusion over Tom's condition after LAPD initially confirmed he'd passed away but then apologised and retracted their comments, he was said to still be "clinging to life" in the hours after being rushed to hospital.

However, his agent Tony Dimitriades later revealed he had died when his family agreed to switch off his life support after learning he had no brain activity.

According to TMZ, Petty was surrounded by his friends, family and his bandmates at UCLA hospital in Santa Monica, California, when he sadly slipped away.