The family of Bee Gees legend Barry Gibb has reassured fans the 79-year-old singer remains in good health after a fabricated death announcement spread rapidly online over the weekend.
Sources close to the musician told TMZ reports of his passing were completely false, stating Mr Gibb is “healthy, happy, and living life” at his home in the Miami area.
The disco icon is the latest high-profile celebrity to become the victim of an online death hoax, with false claims about his supposed death gaining traction across social media.
The hoax appears to have began on Sunday when a Facebook page titled “R.I.P Barry Gibb” appeared online and quickly attracted nearly one million likes before later being removed.
Barry Gibb was a part of disco group the Bee Gees
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Visitors to the page were shown a detailed but entirely fabricated story claiming the music star had died that same day.
Although the page was taken down, rumours about the How Deep Is Your Love singer’s well-being continued circulating online, with further false posts appearing across multiple platforms.
The misinformation campaign also included AI-generated images of Mr Gibb, adding to confusion among fans who believed the reports were genuine.
Mr Gibb rose to international fame as a founding member of the Bee Gees alongside his younger twin brothers Robin and Maurice during the late 1960s.
The 79-year-old singer remains in good health
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The trio became one of the most successful groups in music history, selling hundreds of millions of records worldwide.
Their most popular hits include Stayin’ Alive, Night Fever, How Deep Is Your Love and Too Much Heaven.
Mr Gibb is now the only surviving original member of the Bee Gees, following Maurice Gibb’s death in 2003 at the age of 53 and Robin Gibb’s passing in 2012 at age 62.
He is far from the first celebrity to be targeted by false online death reports, which have become increasingly common in recent years.
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The Bee Gees
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Other stars who have previously faced similar hoaxes include Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman, Justin Bieber and Back to the Future actor Michael J. Fox.
Jon Bon Jovi has also been subjected to bogus death rumours, as fake memorial pages and misleading clickbait content continue to spread widely across social media platforms.
Rumours spread online that Barry Gibb had passed away
| GETTYFurthermore, six months before Queen Elizabeth's passing, the American blog Hollywood Unlocked falsely claimed she had died.
The outlet’s CEO publicly doubled down on the false report before being forced to retract it.
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