From Bob Dylan to Paul McCartney: 10 rock stars falsely reported dead
If I were to take a guess, I’d say the first case of a famous individual being falsely reported dead occurred sometime in early April AD33, when Jesus Christ was seen wandering around semi-nude, having been very publically crucified by the Romans just three days before. Since then, the likes of Jackie Chan, Ernest Hemingway and Kurt Cobain have all been proclaimed dead, only for it to transpire that they were alive all along.
Though he wasn’t a musician, one of the most famous cases of the 18th century was the wrongly-reported death of English Romantic poet and early vegan Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who, in 1816, heard his death mentioned in a hotel by a man reading out a newspaper report of the coroner’s inquest.
In Autobiographical Recollections, C.R Leslie recalls how Coleridge asked to see the paper only for the man to remark how extraordinary it was that “Coleridge the poet should have hanged himself just after the success of his play [Remorse]; but he was always a strange mad fellow,” to which Coleridge replied. “Indeed, sir, it is a most extraordinary thing that he should have hanged himself, be the subject of an inquest, and yet that he should at this moment be speaking to you.”
Paul McCartney must have seemed equally bewildered when he was forced to clarify his existence in the late 1960s. The same goes for Alice Cooper, Fats Domino, Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan and the innumerable other rock ‘n’ roll artists wrongly reported dead over the years. Here are ten of the most notable cases.
10 rock stars falsely reported dead:
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain was falsely reported dead by CNN following an overdose in Rome in March 1994. The Nirvana frontman was, in fact, in a coma. Cobain and Courtney Love had spent the evening dining on room service, sharing a bottle of champagne. When she woke at 5.30am the next morning, she found Cobain lying on the floor next to the bed, unresponsive. It was later established he’d consumed around 50 doses of Rohypnol.
Cobain’s death a little over a month later has prompted much debate over whether the Rome overdose was accidental or a legitimate suicide attempt. Courtney Love would later add fuel to the latter theory, claiming: “there was a definite suicidal urge, to be gobbling and gobbling and gobbling [pills]. Goddamn, man.”
Paul McCartney
We’ve got a whole guide for this one. Paul McCartney was reported dead in 1969 by a caller to Russ Gibb’s show on Detroit radio station WKNR-FM. It would have ended there had Roby Yonge, a New York DJ, not been fired for discussing the musician’s rumoured death on a late-night talk show.
Yonge’s ejection added to the already widespread rumour that Paul had died in a car crash in 1966 and been replaced by a look-alike. The Beatle had been involved in a couple of car accidents around the time of Sgt Pepper’s, but he was by no means dead and buried. In the end, he was forced to issue a statement to reassure fans: “I am alive and well and concerned about the rumours of my death,” he said. “But if I were dead, I would be the last to know.”
Alice Cooper
Rumours surrounding Alice Cooper’s supposed death started when Melody Maker magazine printed a comic mock obituary of the shock rocker. Clearly, it was very well written because the joke went over quite a few readers’ heads, giving birth to the speculation that the singer had managed to get himself killed in some crazy onstage stunt.
Cooper eventually caught wind of the rumours and stepped forward to declare: “I’m alive, and drunk as usual.” The singer is currently aged 74 and released his last solo album, Detroit Stories, in 2021. Those Melody Maker readers should have known: you can’t kill the undead.
Fats Domino
One of the blues’ most revered artists, rumours of Fats Domino’s death began to circulate after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. The musician was reported dead after flooding affected his neighbourhood. He reappeared a few days later to reveal that he had relocated to a Friend’s house in Baton Rouge.
When Katrina was reported, many fled. Fats decided to stay so that he could be with his wife, Rosemary, who was suffering from poor health. Stubbornness may have played a part too. When the storm arrived, Domino’s home in the Lower Ninth Ward was flooded, and he ended up losing all of his possessions, including the National Medal of Arts awarded to him in 1998 by President Bill Clinton.
Ian Dury
In 1998, ‘I Want To Be Straight’ singer Ian Dury was reported dead by none of other than Bob Geldof. The Live Aid founder and former Boomtown Rat broke the news on his XFM channel, having taken hoax information provided by one disgruntled listener (who was apparently upset by the station’s change of ownership) as gospel.
Dury passed away for real two years later in March 2000, leaving behind eight albums of brilliantly inventive, era-defining material. Today, he is survived by his son Baxter Dury, who certainly has his dad’s knack for penning witty ditties.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan was falsely reported dead on BBC Radio 1 – the UK’s biggest popular music station – in the early 1990s by Neale James, an early morning weekend DJ who also ran the Sunday afternoon ‘put your questions to Ray from 2 Unlimited’ slot. He immortalised himself by famously remarking: “on this day in 1941, Bob Dylan was born, and what a shame he’s not around to celebrate his birthday”.
Dylan has actually been reported dead a couple of times, most recently by a presenter on the Australian Today show. During a segment about an upcoming auction of some of the musician’s documents, the unfortunate presenter referred to him as the “late singer,” forcing the programme to issue an apology for the error.
Whitney Houston
The day after the 9/11 terror attacks, Whitney Houston was reported to have died of a drug overdose. Rumours surrounding the singer’s health began circulating following her performance at the Michael Jackson tribute concert at Madison Square Garden a few weeks earlier, where she was reported as looking “skeletal”.
Houston was certainly no stranger to drug addiction, but she was very much alive and kicking on September 13th, 2001. That day, her publicist, Nancy Seltzer, issued the following statement: “I’ve just spoken to Whitney. She is perfectly fine and does not understand why, with everything going on in the world right now, they have to find new rumours to dig up. She is home in New Jersey with her family.”
Gordon Lightfoot
Revered Canadian folk musician Gordon Lightfoot was mistakenly reported dead by CBS Radio 3, the Calgary Herald and Canwest on February 18th, 2010. It’s believed the rumour was started when Ronnie Hawkin, a longtime friend of the singer-songwriter, received a hoax phone call from a man claiming to be Lightfoot’s grandson.
When local news outlets caught wind of this information, they went to Hawkins, who, not knowing any better, confirmed the story. Lightfoot was at the dentist when he heard the sad news that he had died at the age of 71. He promptly got in touch with his publicist, who was quick to dispel the rumour.
Joni Mitchell
Certain magazines like to prepare advance obituaries for cultural icons nearing the end of their life. This means that when singers or actors of a certain age do pass, they can publish the piece right away. Of course, all that careful planning landed People magazine in hot water back in October 2022, when the site accidentally published its obituary of Joni Mitchell online with the headline “Joni Mitchell dies at TK AGE”.
The article was quickly removed from the site, but only after other eagle-eyed news outlets had come across it. A spokesperson from Mitchell’s record label was forced to come and confirm that, though a little rattled, the singer was, in fact, alive.
Tom Petty
By 2017, I think everyone was expecting Tom Petty to kick the bucket. Prince, David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Muhammed Ali, Gene Wilder, and Harper Lee had all passed away the year before, and it was starting to feel as though someone up there was deliberately picking off cultural icons.
Petty was found unresponsive at his home on October 2nd, 2017, leading CBS News to report his death that afternoon, citing the Los Angeles Police Department as a key source. Other news outlets quickly followed suit. However, it was subsequently established that Petty was not yet dead and that the LAPD had not been officially involved in the matter. After all the hullabaloo, Petty died later that day. Boy, his spirit must have got a kick out of that.
