Pennsylvania Musician Takes Credit for Jon Bon Jovi Death Hoax

Jeffrey Goho of the Philadelphia-area metal band Minutia is taking credit for the Jon Bon Jovi death hoax that circulated virally on the Internet last week.

The stunt even inspired JBJ himself to address it with a proof of life photo, marked with the time and date Bon Jovi's response also said that heaven looks a lot like New Jersey. He had a terrific sense of humor about the whole thing.

That said, The Asbury Park Press reports that Goho (seen below third from right) started the web rumor by issuing a fake press release via a blog post. He claimed that the singer died after being discovered comatose in an Asbury Park hotel. Sounds similar to the Jani Lane story from earlier this summer, doesn't it?

Goho claimed his motivation was born out of his irritation over Jon Bon Jovi's non-musical pursuits, such as his role in 'New Year's Eve,' his Advil commercial and his recently opened soup kitchen, which helps the less fortunate to, you know, eat! As if this is any of Goho's business or he has any right, rhyme or reason to be irritated by things like philanthropic endeavors.

He reportedly said, "I'm in a band as well, and I was going into the recording studio, and we had talked about how the music industry just started taking a turn into crazy new worlds that no one, really, can assess. Long story short, I was talking to my band members on their down time, and we got so worked up in the conversation, I just kind of took the liberty and started (the rumor), because I was so irritated." Annoyance, jealousy because his band has yet to make it big like Bon Jovi or an ill-advised publicity stunt for his own band?

Goho continued, "All I heard was 'Bon Jovi this,' 'Bon Jovi's starting a restaurant.' What was the latest one? The Advil commercial? It was like, 'Jeez, he was a household name due to the music, not the business.' So I'm not proud of it. I'm getting a lot of backlash from it, but as stupid as it sounds, that's how it started. I just had a blurb and went with it."

His Minutia bandmates are receiving quite a bit of backlash for his actions, and he's asked people not to target them. He has been slammed with hate mail on all social media networks.

Sounds like a case of bad karma for Jeff Goho.