Despite a TMZ article claiming that the father of rock and roll had passed away, Jerry Lee Lewis is still alive. Before the site recanted it on Wednesday, the story caused a wave of grief.
He’s alive. According to Lewis’ representative, TMZ misreported based on a “bullshit anonymous tip.”
Lewis has been known to be sick with the flu this month; he was unable to attend the Country Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony on October 16, when his wife accepted the honor in his place, so it could be overstating things to state that he is “alive and well.” However, TMZ admitted that they had received a false inform kgation about his alleged death.
After the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, a picture of Kris Kristofferson personally delivering Lewis’ medallion while he was sick with the illness was released online.
After People magazine published a piece and tweeted that Joni Mitchell had passed away, the fake news about Lewis is the second big music icon to have been declared dead in recent weeks. In that instance, the mistake was more obvious to readers because the story and headline both contained “TKs,” indicating that they were pre-written drafts that needed to be filled in before any obituary was published.
