London, April 1 (Reuters): The BBC sent an e-mail requesting an interview with reggae star Bob Marley, 24 years after his death.

The publicly funded broadcaster confessed today it was ?very embarrassed? by the mix-up which appeared in an e-mail to the Bob Marley Foundation. ?We are obviously very embarrassed that we didn?t realise that the letter to the Marley Foundation did not acknowledge that Marley is no longer with us,? said a BBC statement.

The Bob Marley Foundation was not immediately available for comment, but the BBC said it had laughed off the mistake.

?The Marley Foundation have been extremely good humoured about this and we have apologised for the error.?

It said the mistake occurred in a standard letter the BBC sent out to hundreds of ?icons and musicians? it wanted to take part in a series on digital channel BBC-3.

The approach followed the success of BBC-3 documentary The Story of Bohemian Rhapsody about the classic track by rock group Queen.

A BBC spokeswoman said the statement was not an April Fool hoax.