Freddie Starr dies, age 76

Very odd - get its unverified but find that quite disrespectful as it makes it out to be a publicity stunt or a false internet report. "Tributes paid to Freddie Starr" would have told the same story without confirming his death.

Even Sky News (and other outlets) are now using "Freddie Starr found dead a home - reports", which seems to suggest on the balance of probability it is correct but they can't confirm it.

Looks like the entire story has come from a single Facebook post that claims to be official, but there's no other confirmation from any other source. It's quite intriguing actually..

This is all quite apt considering the "Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster" incident.

Yes it's very interesting to see how this is being reported. The BBC were ages mentioning it last night when a quick search online revealed that every newspaper website had the story. Even when they did it was just on the ticker.


They must all be pretty certain, it would be unprecedented for incorrect reports of someone's death to be so widespread.

There was a similar palava when Peter Wyngarde died as I recall.

I was watching BBC News last night and they didn’t mention it until after the first news report of the 11pm hour. Lukwesa Burak was presenting and said it was ‘being reported by newspapers’ and then quoted the social media post.

I seem to recall about a year or so ago the BBC reported someone as having died only to have to correct it when it was revealed they weren't dead yet. (I think the person subsequently died about a week or two later.)

I imagine that since this incident reporting procedures were changed, hence BBC News being cautious in reporting reports of his death. Presumably his death is/was yet to be verified by either his agent, immediate family, or the police.

Anyone remember when Harold Pinter died...?



Wait, did I say ‘died’? I meant ‘won the Nobel Prize for Literature’. Honestly, lovely as I’m sure Ginny is, just what were they thinking putting someone so inexperienced in a slot with so much breaking news?

It was Brian Matthew who was reported as having died which then had to be retracted. He then actually died a few days later.

They are right to be cautious. Remember when Radio Two 'Killed off' Brian Matthews before he actually died?

Normally in stories like this it's confirmed by either the family, agent, or a 'close friend'.
It seems as Starr doesn't have an agent, or, close family, confirmation is rather tricky to obtain.

I think that was the issue with the misreporting of Brian Matthews, it came from a source that would normally be trusted, except unfortunately it was incorrect.

Although, the BBC said at the time that close family and friends had confirmed that Brian Matthew had died, only for them to contact the BBC again and say he was actually critically ill. So even a family and friends source was wrong.