American music legend Bob Dylan is not dead — despite what MSBNC and Australia's "Today Show" tells its viewers. The two networks were left red-faced after incorrectly reporting that the 79-year-old singer-songwriter was no more.
The gaffe came as multiple news outlets reported about Thursday's auctioning of Dylan's memorabilia in Boston, Massachusetts. However, while reporting about the auction, MSNBC host Richard Lui declared "Dylan died last year at the age of 79" and "Today Show" referred him as the "late singer" as it aired a montage of the singer's clips.
The announcement confused viewers, who took to Twitter to call out the two networks and clarify that Dylan was alive. Some of them also told the networks to issue a correction. However, the error went undetected for 30 minutes for "Today Show" and in MSNBC's case, the issue was quickly rectified after the Twitter users pointed it out.
"Bob Dylan isn't allowed to ever die. I don't have time and energy to ever deal with that," tweeted one Twitter user. Taking over the next segment from Lui, MSNBC host Joshua Johnson issued a clarification over the gaffe. He also acknowledged that social media users picked up on the false reporting.
"We accidentally said that he died last year. Bob Dylan is very much alive," Johnson said. "He turned 79 this year. Sorry about that."
"Today Show" host Richard Wilkins also apologized viewers for the misreporting. "We need to make a correction. About half an hour ago, in the entertainment chat, we incorrectly ran a banner on your screen about Bob Dylan. It was false and we apologize for any confusion," he said.
While the two networks cleaned up their act, Dylan did not react over their blunder.
Meanwhile, Dylan's cache of documents that included his unpublished song lyrics and interviews fetched a price of $495,000 at Thursday's auction. One of the documents of his interviews from 1971 revealed that his hit number "Lay Lady Lay" was inspired by singer and actress Barbara Streisand.
