--- description: Despite an erroneous tweet from Sony Music's account on Monday morning, pop icon Britney Spears is not dead. title: No, Britney Spears Isn't Dead image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4635d2e46d32e03a/6988a80bbc6cfc4f733debea/britney-spears-loves-30s.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # No, Britney Spears Isn't Dead  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 26, 2016 2:27 PM CUT  Singer Britney Spears arrives at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. Singer Britney Spears arrives at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City.Allen Berezovsky—WireImage/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 26, 2016 2:27 PM CUT 2016 was a rough year for celebrity deaths. The world lost [Prince](http://time.com/4303558/prince-dead-paisley-park-57/ "undefined"), [David Bowie](http://time.com/4174815/david-bowie-death-cancer/ "undefined") and now [George Michael](http://time.com/4617888/george-michael-singer-dead/?xid=homepage "undefined"), among others. But despite an erroneous tweet from Sony Music’s account Monday morning, pop icon Britney Spears is not on that list. The Sony Music Global Twitter account sent a tweet Monday morning that said, “RIP @britneyspears :( #RIPBritney 1981-2016.” Then it sent a follow up tweet saying, “britney spears is dead by accident! We will tell you more soon #RIPBritney :(“. Both tweets have since been deleted. A representative for Spears [confirmed to CNN](https://twitter.com/AnneClaireCNN/status/813381017897758720 "undefined") on Monday that the singer is alive and well. Sony has not commented about whether the tweets were the result of a hack. Fans of Spears, including Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Dylan, had already begun tweeting their sympathies. “Rest in peace @britneyspears :(” [was sent](https://twitter.com/bobdylan/status/813372352918683649 "undefined") from Dylan’s verified account Monday morning. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4618077/britney-spears-dead-hoax-sony/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4618077/britney-spears-dead-hoax-sony/"},"headline":"No, Britney Spears Isn't Dead","datePublished":"2016-12-26T14:27:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:28:07.447Z","description":"Despite an \"RIP\" tweet from Sony Music","url":"https://time.com/4618077/britney-spears-dead-hoax-sony/","keywords":["celebrities","Music","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4635d2e46d32e03a/6988a80bbc6cfc4f733debea/britney-spears-loves-30s.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4635d2e46d32e03a/6988a80bbc6cfc4f733debea/britney-spears-loves-30s.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2016 MTV Video Music Awards - Arrivals","caption":"2016 MTV Video Music Awards - Arrivals","creditText":"Allen Berezovsky—WireImage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4618077/britney-spears-dead-hoax-sony/","name":"No, Britney Spears Isn't Dead"}}]}] ```