Bon Jovi jokes about death reports during concert

Rock star Jon Bon Jovi made light of Internet reports Monday that he was dead.

At a concert Monday night in New Jersey, Bon Jovi joked about the incident. "He referred to the hoax several times, and even pantomimed taking phone calls from concerned friends checking to see if he was still alive," the Star-Ledger reported. "He even felt the need to rehash the old Mark Twain quip about how the reports of his death had been exaggerated.

Boni Jovi's Twitter feed posted this message: "Heaven looks a lot like New Jersey" -jbj. Rest assured that Jon is fine!"

The fake report that Bon Jovi died appears was copied in part from a 2009 Los Angeles Times story that announced the death of Michael Jackson.

A website called "dailynewbloginternational" posted the story claiming that Bon Jovi was dead on Monday.

The story had changed some words and details, falsely reporting that Bon Jovi died in New Jersey during a world tour. But some of the sentences appeared to have been copied from the Times story on Jackson's death that ran on L.A. Now after he was stricken at his Holmby Hills mansion.

The Times said it was looking into the issue but emphasized that the newspaper was not involved in the false report.

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--Shelby Grad

Photo: Singer Jon Bon Jovi attends the premiere of "New Year's Eve" at the Ziegfeld Theatre on Dec. 7. Credit: Evan Agostini / Associated Press