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Earlier today, reports that Earth Wind & Fire founder and vocalist Maurice White died surfaced after A Tribe Called Quest frontman Q-Tip posted a tweet heard around the virtual world. After White’s rabid fanbase chimed in via the social media network, it appears the Abstract Poetic was duped by a false Wikipedia entry, and the friends and family of Maurice White said the singer is alive and well. “Oh no! 1 of my biggest inspirations MAURICE WHITE leader of earth wind & fire passed on today! A true master! RIP #mauricewhite,” tweeted Q-Tip earlier today, prompting a bevy of retweets, tribute responses and White’s name becoming a trending topic.

The Queens rap veteran promptly deleted and apologized for spreading the news, this after a series of emotional tweets lamenting the perceived loss. “[A]pparently this wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_White … is false and thankfully hes alive! which is THE MOST IMPORTANT point here.” tweeted Q-Tip, after fending off an angry mob of Twitter users who chastised him for relying on the information website.

Maurice White’s Wikipedia has since been updated, addressing the death rumor as well. Tip later added, [G]lad mo is still here…” before signing off for the day.

Maurice White, who just celebrated his 71st birthday on Wednesday, has been battling Parkinson’s Disease since the  mid-1990s but is said to still be active in the music business. Earth Wind & Fire and some of its members are also active in social media as well, with vocalist Phillip Bailey tweeted a loving birthday shoutout to Maurice White this week.

Check out the full screen pic of the screen grab courtesy of Tattle Tailzz after the jump.

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