False Rumors of Willie Nelson's Death Surface Again
Willie Nelson is dead again, if rumors are to be believed.
Every weekend for the past couple of months, search engines like Google have recorded a spike in searches for the phrases like "Willie Nelson death." Even the country musician himself is aware of the reports about his supposed demise, and he has been poking fun at these death hoaxes since.
Last month, Radar Online chimed in on the talks about Nelson's well-being, reporting that he walked off stage in the middle of his stage performance in Texas and disappeared for almost 20 minutes. When he returned, he reportedly appeared disoriented. The news outlet went on to report that a source claimed that Nelson was "on death's door."
However, recent reports now say that Nelson is alive and well, having just celebrated his 84th birthday in April. He was also recently interviewed by the Rolling Stone, and he spoke about several topics including the Trump presidency. He also briefly discussed his single "Still Not Dead," and how it serves as a response to fake news that he had already passed away.
"Well, many years ago, when I wrote "On the Road Again," that's the first time I heard that I was dead," Nelson said. "Somebody said, "Willie was singing 'On the Road Again,' and a bus hit him." That was funny for a few years."
He continued, "Then I heard these, what do you call them, "alternative facts": I got up two or three times in the past couple of years and read I'd passed away. I just wanted to let 'em know that's a lot of horseshit."
According to Snopes, the recurring Willie Nelson death hoax originated from a 2015 fake news article from the website MSNBC.co, which is just one letter less than the real news site, MSNBC.com. This caused a lot of confusion among readers, and the rumors about Nelson's death have not stopped from surfacing since.