Macklemore is dead. At least that's what the Internet is saying. However the "Thrift Shop" rapper, Ben Haggerty, didn't die. He's just the victim of an Internet death hoax.

Rumors started spreading this week that Macklemore, whose real name is Ben Haggerty, died. Fans left comments on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook saying that the rapper died. There were varying reports about what happened.

One image says that Macklemore died in a shooting in Seattle. The image seems to show a CNN reports which describes a drive-by shooting and a car that exploded leaving there dead in Seattle, including Macklemore. This story is true, but it occurred in Las Vegas and Macklemore wasn't involved, but another aspiring rapper was. This image of this report was altered to make people believe Macklemore was killed.

Another report says that Macklemore overdosed on something called wazinine. The report says:

"At approximately 2:00 AM this morning at Mack Macklemore's Lake City Residence, the eponymous rapper "Macklemore" was pronounced dead.
A routine blood draw showed at least 20cc of wazinine in Macklemore's bloodstream, enough to have killed a boy of Mackelmoor's size at least 2 times over." says the SPD.
"It's a chilling reminder, that despite rumors, waaz can and does kill."

Wazinine is not a real product. This report was found on a tumblr blog posted three months ago. It is also false.

Despite the reports being false, fans are taking to Twitter to mourn and question the loss. Some examples of tweets include:

"WHAT MACKLEMORE IS DEAD?"

"R.I.P Macklemore #dead #drugs

"So is Macklemore actually dead or...?

"Apparently macklemore has died.."

"Macklemore died that's crazy !!"

"Well RIP Macklemore. Made good music other than "thrift shop." You'll be missed."

Don't worry fans. Macklemore isn't dead. He's just the victim of a cruel hoax.

Internet death hoaxes have become a trend in recent months. Dozens of celebrities have been killed off by the Internet.

Some other celebrities who became victims of a death hoax in recent months include "The Big Bang Theory actory Jim Parsons, actress Megan Fox,  wrestler John Cena, singer Bruno Mars, actor Vin Diesel, musician Skrillex, Rapper Lil Wayne, Actor Vince Vaughn, Tom Kenny, the voice behind SpongeBob Squarepants, country singer Taylor Swift, legendary actor Morgan Freeman, Comedian Bill Cosby, Alfonso Ribeiro aka Carlton from the Fresh Prince, and Bill Nye the Science Guy. All of these celebrities are just fine.