Gordon Lightfoot: Not yet “Sundown”
I know there is a risk in spreading false news, by the very act of trying to correct it, but contrary to online reports, Canadian singer songwriter Gordon Lightfoot is in fact alive. The rumor to the contrary spread rapidly through social media and the web today, garnering coverage like this.
Lightfoot and his management quickly sprang into action with a series of interviews deflating the rumors.
Lightfoot’s manager told Toronto’s Globe & Mail newspaper that the hoax launched through a Twitter user based in the national capital, Ottawa. Other reports attributed the original misinformation to rockabilly singer and Lightfoot pal Ronnie Hawkins — but take that with a grain of salt, too. It could just be another hoax.
The one upside to this mess is this: As quickly as the disinformation spread, the corrective was just about as swift.