Willie Nelson in the official video for ‘Still Not Dead’ off his record ‘God’s Problem Child’: Photo: Willie Nelson/YouTube
A Chicago-based radio station reported yesterday that the Country Music Hall of Famer Willie Nelson passed away, exemplifying the theme of his song from April 2017 called “Still Not Dead.”
WLS-AM 890 tweeted on August 3 that Nelson was dead according to knowledge that anonymous sources had shared with two of their reporters.
“Multiple people in the Country music industry have told [WLS-AM 890 hosts Big John Howell and Ramblin’ Ray] that Willie Nelson has passed,” they said. “Still confirming atm.”
This is sketchy from start to finish, and it’s also false.
Death hoaxes have happened to Nelson before — they’ve happened so many times that he felt compelled to write “Still Not Dead.” The song opens with:
I woke up still not dead again today
The internet said I had passed away
If I died I wasn’t dead to stay
And I woke up still not dead again today
Thanks to KXAN News, a news outlet based in Austin, Texas, the rumor (i.e. fake news) fizzled out within an hour. And what was the ground-breaking journalistic actions they took to confirm this?
They simply called Nelson’s camp and asked, Hey, is Willie there?
“Amid rumors,” tweeted KXAN News, “Willie Nelson’s management tells KXAN that the Red Headed Stranger is NOT dead.”
On top of that, Stephanie Ruhle, an MSNBC news anchor, confirmed the country star was still alive and kicking.
“I just spoke with Willie Nelson’s lawyer,” she tweeted. “And I am thrilled to report, Willie is alive, well and as always… AWESOME.”
Unfortunately, sometimes news outlets are lazy, attention-grabbing, and wrong.
One problem with all of these Willie Nelson death hoaxes is that when he actually kicks the bucket, nobody will believe it.
A similar thing happened recently to singer Sheryl Crow when a Twitter user posted an image that read, “Kid Rock ’18 for US Senate,” adding that Crow must be “rolling in her grave” about it.
Crow debunked the rumor herself.
“Dude,” she tweeted at the person. “I’m still alive.” Then she wrote a song called “Dude, I’m Still Alive.”
Below you can watch Nelson music video for “Still Not Dead.”