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Mark McGrath Not Dead: Sugar Ray Singer Death Hoax Turns Out to Be Publicity Stunt

Mark McGrath
Mark McGrath is not dead, despite a press release claiming otherwise.

No, Mark McGrath is not dead, despite what a Los Angeles-based consulting firm led fans to believe Thursday, Feb. 26 when circulating a press release announcing the Sugar Ray singer's "death."

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In what appears to be a sick stunt to promote the Thursday premiere of his Adult Swim series Hot Package, the Prismatics company wrote that McGrath, 46, was murdered while filming the show. "McGrath . . . was confronted by a masked gunman and shot several times. The former Sugar Ray frontman died in the arms of his co-host Derrick Beckles on the Hollywood set of the show," the press release read.

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"In honor of Mr. McGrath's legacy, his team is asking in lieu of flowers, fans post a Sugar Ray Selfie, holding a packet of sugar over their heart," the statement – including the hashtag #RIPMARKMCGRATH – concluded.

Less than two hours after the hoax email blast went out, McGrath's rep confirmed to Us Weekly that the singer and TV personality is alive and well. The Prismatics firm later re-sent its press release with information about Hot Package's return. (In a statement to Us, an Adult Swim spokesperson confirmed the press release "did not come from Adult Swim and is not part of any network PR or marketing campaign for the show Hot Package.")

For his part, McGrath acknowledged the hoax on Twitter Thursday, telling fans he was just as surprised to find himself in the news. "Final word on the death hoax thing, I knew nothing about it and found out the same time you did…sorry about any confusion," he wrote.

 

 

In addition to his work on Hot Package, McGrath has been keeping busy with his Sugar Ray bandmates, and reunited with Dean Butterworth and Rodney Sheppard Feb. 25 for a group photo shoot.

 

 

Sugar Ray's most recent album, Music for Cougars, was released in 2009.

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