Twitter thinks Keith Richards is the first man ever created after a viral joke

As always happens when an older famous person trends on Twitter, the world had a collective panic for Keith Richards this morning.

Don’t worry, Keef is fine.

He was, in fact trending because of a viral tweet, which claimed a computer illustration of the Rolling Stones legend was a 3D model of Adam.

“Scientists at Princeton University have reconstructed this 3D model of how Adam, the first human being created by God, might have looked,” the post by circus performer Jim Rose read.

The image featured was actually an art project by Spanish senior character artist Natalia Barbosa, posted on her website to show her process of creating a realistic likeness of Keith Richards.

While we can’t say how many people were taken in by the claim – which, if you really think about it, doesn’t hold a lot of water – Twitter users were having fun with the idea of wild man Richards as the first human.

There were art memes, picturing Keith Richards gazumping Adam.

Reminders of great Keith quotes, such as: “I don’t have a problem with drugs, I have a problem with policemen.”

 And a lot of jokes about Keith Richards’s seeming immortality.

This is actually not the first time this joke has gone viral. The wording of the new tweet is exactly the same as an earlier viral post that featured a computer simulation of action hero Vin Diesel. That time the tweet was by indie movie theatre chain Alamo Drafthouse.

There are two lessons here. One: don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Two: it’s never a bad day to show Keith Richards a bit of rock’n’roll appreciation.