THE DEATH of Britney Spears was announced earlier today on the official Sony Music Twitter page just hours after the death of George Michael.


The first shock tweet said: "Britney Spears is dead by accident! We will tell you more soon. #RIPBritney."’

Less than ten minutes later, a second post said: "RIP Britney Spears. #RIP Britney 1981-2016."

The tweets were made from the music company's official page and new stations, media and devastated fans scrambled to find out more.

The news came while music fans were still reeling from the death of George Michael from heart failure, according to his manager.

However, commentators were quickly made suspicious by the arbitarary nature of such a huge announcement and the rather odd wording.

There was no message on the artist's own page and the last official post is from December 23, when she announced the release of a new track, Slumber Party featuring Tinashe.

The tweet from Sony has since been taken down but no official statement has been made. A reporter from CNN recently tweeted that she had been in touch with a spokesman from the record company.

Anne Claire Stapleton from CNN tweeted: "Britney Spears is alive and well, her rep tells CNN. It appears Sony Music Global erroneously tweeted her death. Sony rep says 'no comment.'"

Although the report says the shocking messages had been posted "erroneously" it seems highly likely that the account had, in fact, been hacked.

Bob Dylan's official Twitter page also posted the same news of Spears' demise.