Coldplay's Beautiful Cover of Tom Petty's 'Free Fallin'' Will Melt Your Heart

The British band held a minute’s silence before their gig in Portland to honour the victims of the Las Vegas shooting and those affected by the earthquake in Puerto Rico.

REM’s guitarist Peter Buck then joined the band for a rendition of Petty’s classic 1989 hit ‘Free Fallin’.

Chris told the audience: ‘It’s a very strange thing to consider how to play a concert on a day like today. We thought the best thing to do would be send our love and your love into the world because I know everyone’s got the same stuff on their mind.’

The lights were switched off in the arena during the performance, with fans lighting up their phones to pay their respects.

A picture was shared on the band’s Twitter account with the message: ‘When words fail, sometimes quiet is the most eloquent.’

Petty died at the age of 66 on Monday after suffering a cardiac arrest the night before.

His longtime manager Tony Dimitriades released a statement confirming the news.

He said: ‘On behalf of the Tom Petty family we are devastated to announce the untimely death of our father, husband, brother, leader and friend Tom Petty.’

Dimitriades revealed Petty died peacefully surrounded by family, his bandmates and friends.

The musician was best known as the lead singer of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.

His hits included ‘Breakdown’, ‘American Girl’, and ‘Learning to Fly’.