On July 26, 2023, reports surfaced claiming that Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor had died. They were factual.
The singer's family announced her death in a statement that was shared with reputable news outlets, including BBC, Irish public broadcaster RTE, and The Irish Times:
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time.
The statement did not report her cause of death.
Multiple news outlets published full obituaries detailing O'Connor's life, including The New York Times and Associated Press.
Soon after reports of O'Connor's death started circulating on social media, Snopes readers flooded our website to determine whether they were true or a hoax.
Readers often turn to Snopes when they hear about a celebrity death to see if it's real or a hoax. False death announcements are a common form of internet junk news designed to convince gullible readers to go for clickbait or fall for phishing scams. Here's a deeper look into the misinformation trend, and here's a running list of celebrities that have been targets of it.