Above image by Matthew Lamb via Wikimedia Commons
Rumours claiming that Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason has died have been spreading rapidly via Twitter and Facebook. The rumours took hold after a false death date was added to Nick Mason’s Wikipedia page on March 1st, 2018.
Thankfully, the rumours are untrue. Nick Mason is alive and well.
Nick himself has denied the rumours via posts on his official Facebook Page and Twitter feed:
Recent reports of my passing have been greatly exaggerated……i think? pic.twitter.com/UEGLtoEGuP
— Nick Mason (@nickmasondrums) March 8, 2018
The rumours were no doubt fueled by false information displayed at the top of some Google searches about Nick Mason. For example, at the time of writing, a search for “Nick Mason died” displays the following top panels :
The mistaken information on the Google searches was derived from a false entry added to the Nick Mason Wikipedia page on March 1st, 2018:
This false information was removed from the Wikipedia page soon after it was added. But, not before Google incorporated the false death information into its search results.
The mistaken Google search entries will likely stop appearing soon.