Yes, they are musicians who share the same last name and the same birthday, but Bryan Adams is not Ryan Adams.
This fact has become crucial in light of a report by the New York Times that includes allegations Ryan Adams engaged in sexually charged text messages and conversations with a girl who was underage at the time.
Ryan Adams denies report he had internet relationship with minor
In response, Ryan Adams said he does not recall the alleged exchanges and would not knowingly engage in explicit communication with a girl who was underage.
The story caused consternation among some fans of Bryan Adams.
“When someone said that she was sad about hearing the news about Ryan Adams, I freaked out and thought: What did Bryan Adams do?,” Pulitzer Prize winning writer Viet Thanh Nguyen tweeted. “Never heard of Ryan Adams until today.”
Both men were born on November 5th.
But Bryan Adams is 59 and Ryan Adams is 44.
Also, Ryan Adams was previously married to “This Is Us” star Mandy Moore, while Bryan Adams was not.
In a 2017 piece written for the New York Times, Ryan Adams said he was once heckled to sing Bryan Adams’ hit “Summer of 69.”
That story led to the revelation that Ryan Adams had a shared birthday tradition with Bryan Adams.
“I became the person who would send an email every year to the genius writer of that song on his birthday, which is also mine,” Ryan Adams wrote. “I would learn how to show empathy, or fight for myself, or make fun of it all, and shine some love on that lonely, crazy person we have all stood next to before, screaming into the night from the shadows. I toasted the last drink I ever drank to that heckler the day I cleaned up.”
CNN has reached out to Bryan Adams for comment about the confusion.