Dead

Reba McEntire‘s fans weren’t the only ones devastated when a death hoax surrounding the flame-haired country queen spread across the web fast enough to become a trending topic. As it turns out, McEntire’s own nephew suffered panic attack when he caught wind of the virally spreading “news” that his aunt had plummeted to her death after falling from a mountain while filming in Austria.

Most of us are accustomed to getting email, but almost no one is prepared to get a missive from a friend who’s been dead for months. Yet that’s what’s happened to the loved ones of a young man who passed away last summer.

Former Monkees singer Davy Jones died of a heart attack today (Feb. 29) at the age of 66. Though Jones was a pop icon, memorizing kids of the ’60s with his television series band, even country stars were affected by the loss and shared fond memories of the singer and the show via Twitter. It just goes to show that music is a universal language, regardless of genre.

Whitney Houston‘s death came as a huge shock to everyone, including the folks at ‘Saturday Night Live.’ With such little time after the announcement on Saturday to pay tribute to the legendary artist, NBC was still able to set a side a moment of silence to remember Houston and all her contributions.

Miranda Lambert really can’t seem to catch a break. After losing her father-in-law (Blake Shelton‘s dad) just a few weeks ago, Lambert was then saddened by the loss of a longtime friend, who was killed in a tragic car accident. Today, the ‘Baggage Claim’ songstress shared with her fans that one of her dogs, Dixie, has also died.

It quickly became clear that rumors of Reba McEntire‘s death were part of a hoax, but it’s still a relief to have the singer herself available to assure fans that everything is OK. McEntire took to her Twitter page on Tuesday afternoon to try to explain the hoax.

Miranda Lambert has rescheduled her performance this coming Friday (Feb. 3) in Tallahassee, Fla. at the Leon County Civic Center in order to attend a funeral for her childhood friend, Mark “Tex” Adams, who passed away last week. The new date for the show has been set for Thursday, May 17.

Anybody who’s walked and worn headphones at the same time knows that listening to tunes reduces your awarness of what is going on around you.

2011 can be tracked by its dramatic events, beginning with the Tuscon shooting that critically wounded US Rep. Gabby Giffords and continuing all the way up to the death of Muammar Gadhafi in October. Our minds were consumed with thoughts of the earthquake in Japan, the death of Steve Jobs and all the anxiety that came with the Occupy Wall Street protests ...

So many people pass away every year, including in the entertainment industry, that it’s hard to remember just who died, beyond the few very famous people. Turner Classic Movies has a nice montage that helps us remember the talents we’ve lost in 2011.

Dan ‘Bee’ Spears, who served as the bassist in Wille Nelson‘s touring band for over 40 years and who played on several of the singer’s crucial albums, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday (Dec. 8). Spears was 62.

Look, we all know suicide isn’t something you should usually joke about, but Michael Abraham has made it kind of funny by posting on Mountain Dew’s Facebook page.