Paul is dead: Where did the Paul McCartney death conspiracy come from?

May 7, 2024, 10:43

Conspiracy theories are not a new phenomenon.

Even before the age of the Internet, absurd ideas about sinister events and subsequent cover-ups were circulating with varying degrees of credibility.

Most of the time, the attacks focused on politics – such as the assassination of JFK or faking NASA’s moon landing to stay ahead of the US’s Russian rivals – and even pop stars were targeted.

The Beatles were the biggest band in the world in the 1960s – John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney were the victims of daily media attacks throughout the decade and beyond.

However, I doubt they would have ever struggled with one scenario, namely the belief that Paul McCartney was actually dead.

Yes, it’s as strange as it sounds, in one of the strangest phenomena in popular culture.

So what was the “Paul is dead” conspiracy all about? Who started this? How did it gain traction? What did Paul and the Beatles say about that? Here’s everything you need to know about the urban legend:

What was the “Paul is dead” conspiracy?

The “Paul is dead” conspiracy theory states that the “real” Paul McCartney died in a car accident in 1966 and was replaced by a doppelganger.

The theory is that Paul died in a car accident, but to spare the public from mourning the loss of the world’s biggest pop star, the accident was covered up.

With the support of the British secret service MI5, the Beatles got a replacement bandmate who was a spitting image of Paul.

As the conspiracy grew into an international phenomenon, it was believed that the band had programmed their music and album artwork to communicate Paul’s death, with fans looking for “clues” and messages that did not actually exist.

Where did the “Paul is dead” conspiracy come from?

Rumors of Paul’s death began circulating in 1966 when it was believed he had died in a car accident, although The Beatles’ press secretary Tony Barrow confirmed to reporters that he had recently spoken to him.

The band had recently decided to stop performing live after their planned tours for this year were postponed and had therefore disappeared from the public eye.

Any talk of Paul’s death was quickly drowned out by another rumor that he was leaving the Beatles and pursuing a solo career.

The band’s producer, George Martin, reportedly claimed that during a visit to Denver, Colorado, their management “hired a number of people to pose as the Beatles” to distract the throngs of fans.

Although McCartney and Harrison themselves denied the claims, rumors spread about impostors performing during the band’s time.

This seemed to lead to the belief that Paul was dead, particularly when journalist Jay Marks, who attended Paul’s engagement party in 1967, learned from a friend that Paul had been replaced.

Why did the conspiracy gain traction?

The Beatles – Revolution 9 (vinyl LP – first 40 seconds backwards)

When The Beatles stopped touring and instead settled into the studio, they ushered in a new era of songwriting as they never intended to reproduce the songs live.

A trend at the time was backmasking, the idea of ​​adding specific messages to songs when played backwards, something the Beatles were known for.

The Editor of the American Student Publication Drake Times Delphic, Tim Harper published the article “Is Beatle Paul McCartney Dead?” In 1967, he addressed a rumor that was spreading on campus among overzealous marijuana fans.

While playing, the students noticed the line “Turn me on, dead man.” white album track “Revolution 9” backwards, and Paul was the only member of the band facing the other way on the front cover of “Revolution 9”. Magical Mystery Tour.

This seemed to lend some legitimacy to the claims, which skyrocketed when Detroit DJ Russ Gibb received a mysterious call from a listener begging him to turn the song backwards to uncover a series of alleged messages.

In his book The Beatles foreverAuthor Nicholas Schaffner said the conspiracy was “a real folk tale from the mass communications era,” one that even outlived Russ Gibb, who died in 2019.

What famous “clues” were Beatles fans looking for?

Schaffer summed up the hoax: Paul McCartney died leaving Abbey Road Studios on November 9, 1966 – a “stupid, bloody Tuesday.”

He died in his car and was officially pronounced dead (“OPD”) at 5:00 a.m. the next morning, which is why George points to this line in the car Sergeant. pepper Album sleeve with Paul wearing an “OPD” patch.

The other Beatles decided to cover up his death by replacing him with a doppelganger, while making references to it in their songs and album covers.

The iconic album cover too Abbey Road And Sergeant. pepper became the subject of fanfare as the conspiracy reached its height; the former was called a “funeral procession”.

John in white was the preacher, Ringo in black was the undertaker, a barefoot Paul was the corpse and George in jeans was the one who dug his grave.

Other ideas circulated, such as Paul holding a cigarette in his right hand (the real Paul was left-handed); The “28 IF” of the Volkswagen corresponded to Paul’s age Was still alive; when “Revolution 9” is played backwards, John says “turn me on, dead man”; John says “I bury Paul” at the end of “Strawberry Fields Forever”; as “I’m So Tired” from the white album is the other way around. John sings “Paul is dead man, miss him, miss him, miss him…”.

Most of the ridiculous theories turned out to be false, leading to a fan obsession that spiraled out of control.

The phenomenon even inspired some exploitative songs like “Brother Paul” by Billy Shears & the All-Americans, “So Long Paul” by Jose Feliciano and “We’re All Paul Bearers” by Zacharias and the Tree People.

What did Paul McCartney himself say about the conspiracy theory?

When all this shenanigans was going on, Paul was actually holed up on his Scottish farm with his family Life Magazine writers stalked his premises.

After an argument in which he became aggressive due to her interference, Paul agreed to take part in an interview and the rumors began to die down.

The hysteria surrounding his death was so great at the time that readers barely noticed him saying, “The Beatles thing is over.”

“Maybe the rumor started because I haven’t been in the press much lately,” Paul said Life. “I’ve done enough press for a lifetime, and these days I have nothing left to say.”

“I am happy to be with my family and I will work when I work. I was on for ten years and never turned off. Now I switch off whenever I can. These days I’d rather be a little less famous.”

Paul insightfully recalled what the public’s reaction to him felt like after the height of the conspiracy Mojo in 2009: “I think the worst thing that happened was I saw people looking at me more closely: ‘Those were his ears.’ always like that?'”

In an interview with Rolling Stone In 1974, Paul addressed the rumors directly, saying: “Someone from the office called me and said, ‘Look, Paul, you’re dead.’ And I said, ‘Oh, I don’t agree with that.'”

“They said, ‘Look, what are you going to do about it? It’s a big thing that’s broken in America. You are dead’. And so I said, leave it, just let them say it. It’ll probably be like this. The best publicity we’ve ever had and I don’t have to do anything but stay alive.

John Lennon was a little less polite in his response, calling the same Detroit radio station that had spread the rumor just days before Paul’s Life Magazine interview appeared.

“That’s the stupidest rumor I’ve ever heard. “It sounds like the same guy who blew up my Christ remark,” confirming that the coded messages in their music were stupid.

“I don’t know what Beatles records sound like backwards; I never play them backwards. They said I was wearing a white religious suit. I mean, did Humphrey Bogart wear a white religious suit? I just have a nice Humphrey.” Bogart suit.