Jon Bon Jovi Death Hoax: 'Heaven Looks a Lot Like New Jersey'

Jon Bon Jovi has been having fun with the false reports of his demise, which caused a brief panic Monday before they were discredited.

An illegitimate web-based news source published a fake report of Bon Jovi's death Monday, which appears to have been largely copied from a 2009 Los Angeles Times story announcing the death of Michael Jackson. The fake report made its way around the Internet before it was dismissed by TMZ and other news outlets.

Later Monday, Bon Jovi's photographer friend David Bergman tweeted a photo of Jon himself -- holding a sign that read: Heaven looks a lot like New Jersey, and time-stamped 6:00 pm on Dec. 19, 2011. The same photo was tweeted from Jon Bon Jovi's Twitter account.

The Bon Jovi frontman continued to joke about the death hoax at a benefit concert at Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey Monday night. According to the Star-Ledger, Bon Jovi referred to the hoax several times, and even pantomimed taking phone calls from concerned friends checking to see if he was still alive. He even felt the need to rehash the old Mark Twain quip about how the reports of his death had been exaggerated.

Clearly the Star-Ledger reporter was not amused. But give the guy a break: Jon Bon Jovi hasn't had this much attention since the nineties! (Or was it the eighties?)

In any event, we are glad to hear that Jon Bon Jovi is alive and well. And looking pretty good -- Bon Jovi's rock star days have not appeared to taken a significant toll on the 49-year old, who helped raise $175,000 for the Cancer Institute of New Jersey at Monday's Hope Concert. Bon Jovi (who was born John Francis Bongiovi, Jr.) famously married his high-school sweetheart, and they have stayed together for over two decades --despite some alleged slip-ups on his part.

Bon Jovi's holiday single, I Wish Every Day Could be Like Christmas is currently available for download on iTunes.