Linkin Park singer died days after bizarre hoax

The lead singer of Linkin Park, Chester Bennington, has died just days after an internet hoax falsely reported on his death

The 41-year-old, was found dead at his home after apparently taking his own life.

The singer of the Grammy Award winning group was due to begin a tour next week, following the release of a new album.

The Independentreport that Bennington had struggled with drug and alcohol addiction in the past.

This tragic event was proceeded by an internet hoax just days before claiming that the musician had died.

MediaMasspublished an article titled “Chester Bennington dead 2017” : Linkin Park frontman killed by internet death hoax.

According to their report, which was published prior to his death, their sources originated from a Facebook page named 'R.I.P. Chester Bennington', which was created on Tuesday and quickly gained close to one million likes.

Many fans immediately began posting tributes to the singer but others were sceptical of the news, pointing out that no major news networks were yet to run the story.

MediaMass quote the page as saying:

At about 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday (July 18, 2017), our beloved singer Chester Bennington passed away. Chester Bennington was born on March 20, 1976 in Phoenix. He will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page.

According to online story fact checkers Snopes,MediaMass then falsely reported:

News of singer Chester Bennington's death spread quickly earlier this week causing concern among fans across the world. However the July 2017 report has now been confirmed as a complete hoax and just the latest in a string of fake celebrity death reports. Thankfully, Linkin Park frontman is alive and well.

Just hours later, the website then later published an article officially confirming the death of Bennington.

Snopes, reported on the cruel coincidence, and allege that this is a regular tactic by the website who often post false deaths in order to attract traffic.

The website, which has become a bastion of fact checking suspect internet stories, are quoted as saying:

Claims to the contrary were a cruel prank, and Bennington’s death was one of several celebrity deaths used by MediaMass simply to pull in traffic and revenue.

HT BBC TMZ MediaMass Snopes

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