Paul Is Dead: Where did the Paul McCartney death conspiracy come from?

7 May 2024, 10:43

Conspiracy theories aren't a recent phenomenon.

Even before the age of the internet, outlandish ideas of murky goings-on and subsequent cover-ups have floated around, on varying levels of believability.

More often than not focused on politics - ie the assassination of JFK, or Nasa's moon landing being faked to get ahead of the USA's Russian rivals - even pop stars were targets.

The Beatles were the biggest band in the world throughout the sixties - John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Paul McCartney were at the end of media assaults on a daily basis throughout the decade, and beyond.

• The night John Lennon, Paul McCartney and David Bowie nearly formed a supergroup
• Paul McCartney and Wings' 25 greatest songs, ranked
• When John Lennon and Paul McCartney reconciled and nearly reformed The Beatles
• When Jane Asher left Paul McCartney in shock by breaking up with him live on TV

However, one scenario I doubt they ever thought they'd have to contend with, was the belief that Paul McCartney was in fact dead.

Yes, it's as strange as it sounds, in what would become one of popular culture's weirdest phenomenons.

So, what was the 'Paul Is Dead' conspiracy about? Who started it? How did it gain traction? What did Paul and The Beatles say about it? Here's all you need to know about the urban legend:

What was the 'Paul Is Dead' conspiracy?

The 'Paul Is Dead' conspiracy theory was that 'the real' Paul McCartney died in a car accident in 1966, and was replaced by a look-alike imposter.

According to theory, Paul was killed in a car accident, but to spare the public from grieving the world's biggest pop star, it was covered up.

Aided by Britain's secret service, MI5, The Beatles were given a replacement bandmate who was the spitting image of Paul.

As the conspiracy spiralled into an international phenomenon, it was believed that the band coded their music and album artwork to communicate Paul's death, with fans searching for "clues" and messages that didn't actually exist.

Where did the 'Paul Is Dead' conspiracy originate?

Rumours of Paul's death began to circulate in 1966 when it was believed he died in a car accident, even though The Beatles' press officer Tony Barrow confirmed to journalists he had recently spoken to him.

The band had recently decided to stop performing live after the postponement of their scheduled tours that year, so had disappeared from the public eye.

Any talk of Paul's death was quickly eclipsed by a different rumour that he was set to leave The Beatles and pursue a solo career.

The band's producer George Martin then reportedly claimed that their management had hired "a number of people pretending to be Beatles" during a visit to Denver, Colorado to distract the hoards of fans.

Despite McCartney and Harrison denying the claims themselves, stories that imposters were performing as the band began to take off.

This seemed to lead to the idea that Paul was dead, especially when journalist Jay Marks - who was attending Paul's engagement party in 1967 - was told by 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 hunkered down in the studio, they pioneered a new era of songwriting, given they never intended to replicate the songs in a live space.

A trend at the time was back-masking, the idea of adding deliberate messaging in songs if it was 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, addressing a rumour that was spreading on campus amongst over-eager, pot-smoking fans.

Students noticed the line "Turn me on, dead man" when playing the White Album track 'Revolution 9' backwards, and Paul was the only member of the band facing the other way on the front cover of Magical Mystery Tour.

It seemed to add some legitimacy to the claims, which skyrocketed when Detroit DJ Russ Gibb received a mysterious call from a listener imploring him to spin the song backwards to uncover a series of supposed messages.

In his book, The Beatles Forever, author Nicholas Schaffner said the conspiracy was "a genuine folk tale of the mass communications era", one that even outlived Russ Gibb who died in 2019.

What are the famous "clues" The Beatles’ fans were looking for?

Schaffer summarised the hoax: Paul McCartney died on 9th November 1966 when leaving Abbey Road Studios - a "stupid bloody Tuesday".

He died in his car and was officially pronounced dead ("O.P.D.") at 05:00 the following morning, which is why George points to that line on the Sgt. Pepper album sleeve, with Paul wearing an "O.P.D." patch.

The other Beatles chose to cover up his death, replacing him with a look-alike whilst dropping hints in their songs and album artwork.

The iconic album cover to Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper became the subject of fanfare once the conspiracy reached fever pitch, the former of which was referred to as the "funeral procession".

• Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: Who's who on The Beatles' iconic album cover explained
• Hear Jimi Hendrix's unearthed Hollywood cover of 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'
• Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie: What was the Bee Gees-starring Beatles musical about?
• The Beatles' Abbey Road iconic album cover: A brief history

John in white was the Preacher, Ringo in black was the Undertaker, a bare-footed Paul was the Corpse, and George dressed in denim was the one who dug his grave.

More ideas circulated, like Paul holding a cigarette in his right hand (the real Paul was left-handed); the Volkwagen's "28 IF" was Paul's age if he was still alive; when 'Revolution 9' is played backwards John says "turn me on, dead man"; John says "I buried Paul' at the end of 'Strawberry Fields Forever'; when 'I'm So Tired' from the White Album is reversed John sings "Paul is dead man, miss him, miss him, miss him…".

Most of the ridiculous theories were proved to be incorrect, in what became a fan-obsession which spiralled 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 of these riff-raff unfolded, Paul was in fact holed up in his Scottish farm with his family, whilst Life magazine writers hounded his premises.

After an altercation where he became aggressive at their intrusions, Paul agreed to partake in an interview, and the rumours began to die down.

The hysteria around his death was so rife at the time however, readers barely noticed he mentioned: "The Beatles thing is over".

"Perhaps the rumour started because I haven't been much in the press lately," Paul told Life. "I have done enough press for a lifetime, and I don't have anything to say these days."

"I am happy to be with my family and I will work when I work. I was switched on for ten years and I never switched off. Now I am switching off whenever I can. I would rather be a little less famous these days."

Paul recalled how the public's reaction to him felt in the aftermath of the conspiracy's peak, telling Mojo in 2009: "I think the worst thing that happened was that I could see people sort of looking at me more closely: 'Were his ears always like that?'"

• The Beatles' best albums, ranked
• What is Paul McCartney’s favourite Beatles song?
• When Paul McCartney busked 'Yesterday' on London's streets and nobody noticed
• The Beatles' 20 greatest songs ever, ranked

In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1974, Paul addressed the rumours directly, saying: "Someone from the office rang me up 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 breaking in America. You're dead'. And so I said, leave it, just let them say it. It’ll probably be the best publicity we’ve ever had, and I won’t have to do a thing except stay alive. So I managed to stay alive through it."

John Lennon was slightly less polite in his response, calling the same Detroit radio station that promoted the rumour only days before Paul's Life magazine interview came out.

"It's the most stupid rumour 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? All I've got is a nice Humphrey Bogart suit."