Rumours of legendary singer Cher’s death have surfaced on Twitter. The topic “RIP Cher” became a globally trending topic and remained so, even after it was conclusively shown that the performer was still alive and kicking.
The renowned singer has not tweeted from her own official account since 22 January. There are, however, no indications on the feed that Cher had been battling with illness of any kind.
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The tweet that triggered the Twitter flood came from a user called @marymarglorence, whose profile indicates that she lives in Waco, Texas.
RIP Cher
— marymargaretlorence (@marymarglorence) January 22, 2012
Although originally posted on 22 January (the same day as Cher’s last tweet), the topic has only really gained momentum in the past few hours.
A slew of tweets followed, with some users leveraging the singer’s musical longevity as a reason for her being unable to die:
RIP Cher? Cher will never die… she will be reincarnated as a different plastic product. Maybe tupperware.
— Shabooty Bieber (@shabooty) January 27, 2012
I didn’t even notice RIP Cher was a TT. You people are ridiculous, don’t you know Cher is immortal?
— Angellino Carrera (@VANITYgorgeous) January 27, 2012
When it was revealed that the topic was a hoax, other users began commenting on how rumours of this kind spread on the social network:
Ngl, when I saw RIP Cher trending, I was seriously upset, then I realised again that it’s just twitter killing people off. Again
— Molly Timmons (@molly_timmonsx) January 27, 2012
RIP Cher?? dear twitter stop killing people. She’s still alive. LOL
— kyopta (@SteveKeoki) January 27, 2012
Some took a more light-hearted approach to the affair:
@friedneurons follow @beliebenjustin if you like Justin Bieber!
— Minerva Mcelroy (@Minervaf4) January 27, 2012
when I saw RIP Cher…. I thought my puppy died. Yeah my puppies are named Sonny and Cher. twitter.com/Israeli_MC/sta…
— Clinton Cochrane (@Israeli_MC) January 27, 2012
A news article refuting the hoax has since appeared at the top of the topic page.
Cher is in esteemed company when it comes to having a hoax death rumour spread about her. Other deaths which have been falsely reported on Twitter include luminary statesman Nelson Mandela, Johnny Depp, Barack Obama, and Kanye West.
