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Is Bob Dylan dead? MSNBC announces singer died last year leaving fans shocked and confused

During a segment, MSNBC, after concluding a story about the auction of Bob Dylan's documents, announced that the artist died at the age of 79

Is Bob Dylan dead? During an MSNBC segment on 'The Week', the news channel, after concluding a story about the auction of Dylan's documents, announced that the legendary artist died at the age of 79. Naturally, Dylan's name started to trend on Twitter as fans and admirers of the artist were left confused and shocked. Many took to the micro-blogging site to find out what the truth was and, soon enough, realized that MSNBC's news of Dylan's death was false as the singer is very much alive.

One user, pointing out the glaring misinformation, tweeted, "Boy, is MSNBC going to have to do a major mea culpa. They just ended a short piece on an auction of Bob Dylan documents by saying, 'Dylan died last year at the age of 79.' As Mark Twain said, 'The accounts of my death are greatly exaggerated,'" while another, expressing similar sentiments, wrote, "Um fact-checker folks over there MSNBC you just had your excellent newsreader during 'The Week' on MSNBC mention that Bob Dylan died last year, but he didn't."

A different user, who got confused and earlier tweeted the news out, corrected herself and said, "I may have misheard it, but in case I didn't: MSNBC, Bob Dylan is not dead. He is 79 years old. I apologize in advance if I got the dead part wrong." One more added, "Major f**k up! So tonight MSNBC made the major blunder
of saying Bob Dylan was dead, Au Contraire! Check your facts folks he's very much alive and sorry about that is pretty lame!" Another user, who couldn't believe the massive goof-up, tweeted, "Wow, MSNBC just stated that Bob Dylan died last year at the age of 79. What the f**k? Am I in an alternate universe because in my timeline he is very much alive and I’d like him to stay that way."

Dylan has sold more than 100 million records making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, ten Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award. Dylan has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The Pulitzer Prize Board in 2008 awarded him a special citation for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power". In 2016, Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".

Most recently, in 2020, Dylan released a seventeen-minute track 'Murder Most Foul' revolving around the assassination of President Kennedy. He posted a statement: "This is an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting. Stay safe, stay observant, and may God be with you." 'Murder Most Foul' topped the Billboard Rock Digital Song Sales Chart. Later, Dylan released another song, 'I Contain Multitudes' followed by 'False Prophet'. He then released 'Rough and Rowdy Ways', his 39th studio album, on June 19 to favorable reviews.

In a rare interview to historian Douglas Brinkley, published in The New York Times, Dylan commented on the killing of George Floyd saying, "It was beyond ugly. Let's hope that justice comes swift for the Floyd family and for the nation." He said of the COVID-19 pandemic, "Maybe we are on the eve of destruction. There are numerous ways you can think about this virus. I think you just have to let it run its course."