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George R.R. Martin Is Not Dead: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Novelist Mistaken For Beatles Producer After News Of Death

By Jean Mendoza
Published on: 22:31 PST, Mar 9, 2016

Yesterday, the music industry was devastated as news of George Martin’s passing spread online. George Martin, a record producer known as the “Fifth Beatle,” passed away at the age of 90. Soon afterwards, former Beatle Ringo Starr announced the sad news on Twitter.

The news spread like wildfire, and George Martin became the subject of many tweets. But another George Martin — George R.R. Martin — wants everyone to know that he is still very much alive. There are plenty of celebrities who are victims of the death hoax, but this time, it’s simply a case of mistaken identity.

Fans of Game of Thrones and George R.R. Martin’s series of books went into a frenzy, thinking that George R.R. Martin had died. Many confessed that they nearly had a heart attack upon reading the news.

Here are a few tweets from fans.

That’s not all. Even a professional news website got it all mixed up. As Twitter user John Davidson (@JD24) points out, KOLO 8 News Now posted an article about George Martin‘s death, but instead used George R.R. Martin’s photo, as reported by Mashable. The mistake has since been corrected, but Davidson was able to save a screenshot of the post.

To avoid confusion, George R.R. Martin himself cleared things by posting an entry on his Livejournal blog called Not A Blog. In the entry “Not Dead Yet,” Martin assured his fans that “It was Sir George Martin, of Beatles fame, who passed away. Not me.”

“As for me, I am still here, still writing, still editing, still going to movies and reading books, and I expect to hang around for quite a while yet, thank you very much. But thank you all for caring.”

Of those who got confused, many were devastated mainly because George R. R. Martin never got to finish his book Winds of Winter, before he “died.” Winds of Winter is the much awaited sixth novel in a seven-installment fantasy series, which HBO’s Game of Thrones is based on. The fifth book in the series, A Dance With Dragons, was released in 2011, so fans are eagerly awaiting what happens next in Martin’s fantasy world.

As for the sixth book, George R.R. Martin revealed a few details for fans. According to Winter is Coming, Martin revealed that the sixth book contains a plot twist that will never be translated on HBO’s Game of Thrones. This is because the plot twist involves a character who is already dead in the series, but is still very much alive in the book. It has been five years since George R.R. Martin published a book in the series, but still, there is no known date for the release of Winds of Winter.

While waiting for the next book, fans can enjoy watching Season 6 of Game of Thrones, which is scheduled to premiere on April 24. The trailer has been released, and you can watch it below.

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]

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