Lewis has been known to be ailing with the flu this month; he was unable to attend the induction ceremony for the Country Music Hall of Fame Oct. 16, where his wife accepted the honor in his place, so saying he is “alive and well” might be overstating one of those two things. But TMZ acknowledged they’d gotten a bum tip on his supposed passing. Related Stories
The false report on Lewis marks the second time in recent weeks that a major music figure has erroneously been reported dead, after People magazine published a story and tweeted that Joni Mitchell had died. In that case, it was more easily spotted by readers as an error, as the story and headline contained “TKs,” marking it as a pre-write with spots that were supposed to be filled in before the publishing of any obituary.