Metal fans mourn Type O Negative singer Peter Steele

…but it isn’t actually clear that Peter Steele has died.

The Type O Negative lead singer was the center of a similar death hoax in 2005:

There were unconfirmed rumors at one point of Steele’s death after the band website posted an image of a tombstone bearing his name and the dates 1962-2005. According to an article dated May 14, 2005, Steele was not dead; the gag was related to their fresh signing with SPV Records. The website discontinued the tombstone picture in October 2005. However, Steele had indeed disappeared for an extended time with no explanation from the band or management. Rumors of his death, terminal illness, and other speculations increased until the mystery was dispelled on the 2006 DVD Symphony for the Devil.

Fellow metal group Hatebreed posted condolences for Steele and his friends and family on Twitter:

Hatebreed would like to extend our condolences to the family, friends & fans of Peter Steele. He is one of the… http://fb.me/wjyZeY9b

A UK music blog MetalHammer “confirms” the death as well, citing an email from a bandmate:

In an email to Blabbermouth, Type O Negative keyboard player Josh Silver has confirmed that Pete Steele has been found dead. No official cause of death has yet been confirmed, but rumours allege that Steele died of heart failure.

Mass internet speculation surfaced overnight, that Type O Negative frontman Pete Steele had died of a heart failure.

The rumours came from American VJ, Mistress Juliya, posting on her Twitter that Type O guitarist, Kenny Hickey, had confirmed the death, just before midnight on Wednesday, April 14th. These rumours have since been confirmed.

No official confirmations have yet been made that Steele has died. We will update as information becomes available.

UPDATE: CBSNews.com reports that they have confirmed Peter Steele’s death.