Australian ARIA and APRA award winning musician Gotye in celebrity death hoax Gotye talks about the song writing process he used to create his smash hit song "Somebody That I Used to Know." Songwriter of the year ... Wally de Backer, aka Gotye, at the APRA Music Awards 2012. Picture: Adam Ward Source: The Daily Telegraph Gotye tells his fans on Twitter that he is not dead, despite internet rumours. AUSTRALIAN musician Gotye is not dead, despite internet reports and the flood of tweets from fans circulating about the rumour of his death. Fans of the ARIA and APRA-award winning artist hit the internet today after a comment was published on CNN's "iReport" function on their site. The CNN iReport stated: "At 4:32 AM EST, it was reported that Gotye had shot himself in the head with a 9mm handgun. He was pronounced dead at 4.45AM, and the investigation concluded that the cause of death was suicide. It was confirmed shortly after by family and friends. He was quickly taken to the Central Montmorency Hospital, but died from his injuries shortly after. His family has stated that they plan a closed funeral. Since the fake report was published, the musician took to Twitter to confirm he was still alive by tweeting: "I'm not dead," with the hashtag #pinkalbumtitles. The hashtag refers to Pink's fourth studio album titled I'm Not Dead. Earlier this year, Gotye became the first Australian in more than a decade to have a US number 1 with Somebody That I Used to Know.