In late September 1969, the Beatles released the album Abbey Road as they were in the process of disbanding. Harper later said that it had become the subject of discussion among students at the start of the new academic year, and he added: "A lot of us, because of Vietnam and the so-called Establishment, were ready, willing and able to believe just about any sort of conspiracy." According to music journalist Merrell Noden, Harper's Drake Times-Delphic was the first to publish an article on the "Paul is dead" theory. Pepper, where every Beatle except McCartney is photographed facing the viewer, and the front cover of Magical Mystery Tour, which depicts one unidentified band member in a differently coloured suit from the other three. Also referenced was the back cover of Sgt. On 17 September 1969, Tim Harper, an editor of the Drake Times-Delphic, the student newspaper of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, published an article titled "Is Beatle Paul McCartney Dead?" The article addressed a rumour being circulated on campus that cited clues from recent Beatles albums, including a message interpreted as "Turn me on, dead man", heard when the White Album track " Revolution 9" is played backwards. Problems playing these files? See media help. In a later interview, he said that he was purposely confusing listeners with lines such as "the Walrus was Paul" – a reference to his song " I Am the Walrus" from the 1967 EP and album Magical Mystery Tour. John Lennon wrote the song in response to "gobbledygook" said about Sgt. In November 1968, their self-titled double LP (also known as the "White Album") was released containing the track " Glass Onion". Analysing their lyrics for hidden meaning had also become a popular trend in the US. By 1967, the Beatles were known for sometimes including backmasking in their music. McCartney then alluded to the rumour during a press conference held around the release of Sgt. The rumour was acknowledged and rebutted in the February issue of The Beatles Book. In early 1967, a similar rumour circulated in London that Paul McCartney had been killed in a traffic accident while driving along the M1 motorway on 7 January. He began receiving a number of dubious calls from people asking about whether Paul was alright, but he denied those claims due to the fact he claimed to have called Paul.
At the time, Barrow was the press officer for the Beatles and was responsible for fielding calls from fans and the media. The legend was among ten of "the world's most enduring conspiracy theories" according to Time magazine in 2009.Īccording to Tony Barrow, who wrote about it in his book "John, Paul, George, Ringo and me," the rumours about McCartney's death started circulating in September 1966. McCartney parodied the hoax with the title and cover art of his 1993 live album, Paul Is Live. The phenomenon was the subject of analysis in the fields of sociology, psychology, and communications during the 1970s. Rumours declined after Life magazine published an interview with McCartney in November 1969. Proponents perceived clues among elements of Beatles songs and cover artwork clue-hunting proved infectious, and by October 1969 had become an international phenomenon. The rumour began circulating in 1966, gaining broad popularity in September 1969 following reports on American college campuses.Īccording to the theory or rumour, McCartney died in a car crash, and to spare the public from grief, the surviving Beatles, aided by Britain's MI5, replaced him with a McCartney look-alike, subsequently communicating this secret through subtle details of their albums. " Paul is dead" is an urban legend and conspiracy theory alleging that English musician Paul McCartney of the Beatles died in 1966 and was secretly replaced by a look-alike.
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