Barry Gibb is alive and well, despite a recent social media hoax convincing hundreds of thousands of people otherwise. A recent post on Facebook received almost a million likes when it claimed the Bee Gees singer was dead.
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"Family sources tell us the Bee Gees legend is healthy, happy, and living life at his Miami-area home despite false reports online claiming he had died," TMZ reported. "...A 'R.I.P. Barry Gibb' Facebook page racked up nearly one million likes. Users who clicked through to the page were met with a detailed yet entirely false account claiming that the music icon had died earlier that day.
Of course, when a rumor picks up that kind of traction, it begins to spread like wildfire. Sometimes, when a rumor picks up speed the way this one did, it can be quite believable. However, death hoaxes have become somewhat commonplace in recent years. As such, a lot of fans have learned to be more skeptical of what they see on social media.
Barry rose to fame as a member of the Bee Gees, along withh is brothers Maurice and Robin. He is the last surviving member of the group. At 79 years old, it's understandable why this hoax was more successful than previous ones. Still, that doesn't make it acceptable.
Fortunately, the main page where the hoax was posted appears to have been removed.
The Bee Gees Are Still Incredibly Popular
According to Spotify, the Bee Gees still draw over 30 million listeners a month. When you factor in the other streaming platforms, that number is likely closer to the 100 million mark. By every metric, they're still a popular group, even today.
Both "Stayin' Alive" and "How Deep Is Your Love" have amassed over 1 billion streams each on Spotify alone. Those are massive numbers that are rarely seen. "More Than A Woman" is closing in on the 1 billion mark, too, currently boasting over 860 thousand plays all-time.
"Night Fever" has more than 674 million plays, and "You Should Be Dancing" rounds out the group's top five songs with over 330 million.
For a group that was in its prime during the 60s and 70s, the fact that they're still drawing such a large audience is impressive. It's also why the hoax about Barry Gibb traveled as far and as quickly as it did.
Fortunately, Gibb is alive and well.
