November 19, 1997
Repeat after us: Aqua's singer is not dead
By JIM SLOTEK
By JIM SLOTEK --

She's Lene Nystrom, lead singer for the squeaky-clean Danish band Aqua -- they of that peppy Barbie Girl single. She's cute, vivacious, charming and quirky.

And on the street, she's dead from a heroin overdose.

Like Paul McCartney 30 years ago, the rumors that Lene is dead just won't go away. Kids have been phoning MuchMusic claiming they heard the news of her death on the entertainment news show Fax ("which isn't the case," says Much spokesperson Sandra Puglielli, "it's just how urban legends feed themselves").

It probably didn't help the "death rumor" mill when Lene collapsed from "exhaustion" in New York in September (which led Universal to cancel the band's Toronto promo appearance).

We're assuming that'll be an imposter in the studio on Electric Circus Dec. 5 when Aqua performs their new single Lollipop (Lollipop? Isn't this band just dangerous beyond belief?).