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Shut up Luke.
{{Use British English|date=August 2010}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2011}}
<!--Editors: Please resist the urge to say he is *allegedly alive* or add a "fact" tag, or create some other not-funny-anymore joke; they've been removed hundreds of times. Thank you.-->
]

"'''Paul is dead'''" is an ] and ] alleging that ] of the English rock band ] died in 1966 and was secretly replaced by a ].

In September 1969, American college students published articles claiming that clues to McCartney's supposed death could be found among the lyrics and artwork of the Beatles' recordings. Clue-hunting proved infectious and, within a few weeks, had become an international phenomenon. Rumours declined after a contemporary interview with McCartney was published in '']'' magazine in November 1969.

Popular culture continues to make occasional references to the legend. McCartney himself poked fun at it with a 1993 live album, titling it '']'', with the cover parodying clues allegedly on the cover of the Beatles' '']'' album.

==Beginnings==
{{listen
| filename = Revolution-9-forward.ogg
| title = "Revolution 9" (section)
| description = The claimed backmasked section of Revolution 9.
| format = ]
| filename2 = Revolution-9-reversed.ogg
| title2 = "Revolution 9" (section) (reversed)
| description2 = The same section, reversed, which was claimed to sound like "turn me on, dead man."
| format2 = ]
}}
A rumour circulated in ] that Paul McCartney had been killed in a car crash after a January 1967 traffic accident involving his car.<ref>Yoakum, Jim. ''Gadfly'' May/June 2000</ref> The rumour was acknowledged and rebutted in the February issue of '']'' fanzine,<ref>"Beatle News" ''The Beatles Book'' February 1967</ref> but it is not known whether the rumour of 1969 is related to it.<ref name=moriarty>Moriarty, Brian (1999) , lecture</ref> In October 1969, the Beatles had just released their '']'' album and were in the process of disbanding. McCartney's public engagements were few and he was spending time at his ] retreat with his new wife ] to contemplate his forthcoming solo career.<ref>{{cite book| last=Miles| first=Barry| year=2001| authorlink=Barry Miles| title=The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years&nbsp;— Chapter 11 (1969)| publisher=Omnibus Press| isbn=0-7119-8308-9| ref=miles}}</ref><ref name=neary/>

On 17 September 1969, Tim Harper, an editor at the student newspaper of ] in ] (the ''Drake Times-Delphic'') published an article titled "Is Beatle Paul McCartney Dead?" The article described a rumour that had been circulating on campus that Paul was dead. At that point, the rumour included numerous clues from recent Beatles albums, including a message, interpreted as "turn me on, dead man", that is heard when "]" (from the ]) is played backwards.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schmidt |first=Bart |url=http://blogs.library.drake.edu/2009/09/18/it-was-40-years-ago-yesterday/ |title=It was 40 Years Ago, Yesterday… |publisher=Drake University: Cowles Library blog |date=18 September 2009 |accessdate=19 September 2010}}</ref> In wire reports published as early as 11 October, Beatles press officer ] responded to the rumour saying, "Recently we've been getting a flood of inquiries asking about reports that Paul is dead. We've been getting questions like that for years, of course, but in the past few weeks we've been getting them at the office and home night and day. I'm even getting telephone calls from disc jockeys and others in the United States."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aHwzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4DIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=5871,970425&dq=mccartney&hl=en |title=Beatle Paul McCartney Is Really Alive |agency=UPI |work=] |date=11 October 1969 |page=5}}</ref>

==Growth==
On 12 October 1969, a caller to ] radio station ] told ] ] about the rumour and its clues. Gibb and other callers then discussed the rumour on the air for the next hour. Two days after the WKNR broadcast, '']'' published a satirical review of '']'' by ] student ] under the headline "McCartney Dead; New Evidence Brought to Light".<ref name="labour">LaBour, Fred. "" '']'' 14 October 1969: 2</ref> It identified various clues to McCartney's death on Beatles album covers, including new clues from the just-released ''Abbey Road'' LP. LaBour had invented many of the clues, and he was astonished when the story was picked up by newspapers across the United States.<ref name=Allen>{{Cite news|url=http://michigantoday.umich.edu/2009/11/story.php?id=7565&tr=y&auid=5578331 |last=Glenn |first=Allen |title=Paul is dead (said Fred) |newspaper=Michigan Today |location=University of Michigan |date=11 November 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228202339/http://michigantoday.umich.edu/2009/11/story.php?id=7565&tr=y&auid=5578331 |archivedate=28 December 2010 }}</ref> WKNR-FM further fuelled the rumour with a special two-hour program on the subject, "The Beatle Plot", which aired 19 October 1969 (and in the years since on Detroit radio).

In the early morning hours of 21 October 1969, New York radio station ]'s ] ] discussed the rumour on the air for over an hour before being pulled off the air for breaking format. At that time of night, WABC's signal covered a wide listening area and could be heard in 38 states and, at times, in other countries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.musicradio77.com/transm.html |title=Why Did WABC Have Such a Great Signal? |publisher=Musicradio 77 WABC |accessdate=5 August 2007}}</ref> Later that day, the Beatles' press office issued statements denying the rumour which were widely reported by national and international media.

]
Various clues were used to suggest the following story: three years previously (on 9 November 1966), McCartney had an argument during a Beatles' ] and had angrily driven off in his car. He had crashed it and died as a result. To spare the public from grief, the Beatles replaced him with "William Campbell", the winner of a McCartney look-alike contest.<ref name="Harbidge"/>

===Clues===
<!--Editors: Please do not add any more clues; after much discussion on the talk page, it has been deemed that the two given are sufficient to illustrate this aspect of the subject-->
Hundreds of supposed clues to McCartney's death have been reported by fans and followers of the legend. These include messages perceived when listening to a song being ] and symbolic interpretations of both lyrics and album cover imagery.<ref name=Harbidge>, Michael Harbidge Website. Retrieved 25 August 2010.</ref>
One oft-cited example is the suggestion that the words "I buried Paul" are spoken by McCartney's bandmate ] in the final section of the song "]". Lennon later explained that the words were actually "cranberry sauce".<ref>Yorke, Ritchie. "A Private Talk With John" ''Rolling Stone'' 7 February 1970: 22</ref>
Another is the interpretation of the ''Abbey Road'' album cover as symbolising a ], where Lennon, dressed in white, symbolises the ]. ], dressed in black, symbolises the ], ], in denim, symbolises the ], and McCartney, barefoot and out of step with the others, symbolises the ]. <ref name="labour" />
<!--Editors: Please do not add any more clues; after much discussion on the talk page, it has been deemed that the two given are sufficient to illustrate this aspect of the subject-->

==Rebuttal==
]
On 21 October 1969, the Beatles' press office issued statements denying the rumour, deeming it "a load of old rubbish"<ref>"Beatle Spokesman Calls Rumor of McCartney's Death 'Rubbish'" ''New York Times'' 22 October 1969: 8</ref> and saying that "the story has been circulating for about two years—we get letters from all sorts of nuts but Paul is still very much with us."<ref>Phillips, B.J. "McCartney 'Death' Rumors" ''Washington Post'' 22 October 1969: B1</ref> Rumours started to decline when,<ref name="beatlesbible">, The Beatles Bible website, Retrieved: 16 October 2008</ref> on 7 November 1969, ''Life'' magazine published a contemporary interview with McCartney in which he said, {{quote|Perhaps the rumour started because I haven't been much in the press lately. 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.<ref name=neary>{{cite journal|last1 = Neary|first1 = John|date = 7 November 1969|title = The Magical McCartney Mystery|journal = Life|pages = 103–106}}</ref>}}

==Aftermath==
In November 1969, ] sales managers reported a significant increase in sales of Beatles catalogue albums, attributed to the rumour. Rocco Catena, Capitol's vice president of national merchandising, estimated that "this is going to be the biggest month in history in terms of Beatles sales."<ref>Burks, John. "A Pile of Money On Paul's 'Death'" ''Rolling Stone'' 29 November 1969:10</ref> The albums '']'' and '']'' had been off the charts since February, but both re-entered the ''Billboard'' ] chart.<ref name=schaffner>{{cite book |authorlink=Nicholas Schaffner |last= Schaffner|first= Nicholas|date= 1977|title= The Beatles Forever |publisher= Cameron House |pages= 127–129 }}</ref>

]
Before the end of October 1969, several records were released on the subject, including "The Ballad of Paul" by the Mystery Tour, "Brother Paul" by Billy Shears and the All Americans, and "So Long Paul" by Werbley Finster, a pseudonym for ].<ref>Neely, Tim. ''Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records 1950–1975'' (2006): p. 404, 863, 1078</ref>

], a singer on ], had witnessed the Beatles' '']'' session during which drummer ] had walked out and, in May 1969, released a song called "Saint Paul" about the impending break-up of the Beatles. The tune made its way to the ] chart at No. 114 in late June that year and was quickly forgotten until a few months later, when it was picked up by radio stations as a tribute to "the late" Paul McCartney.<ref> Blogcritics, 2 March 2004</ref>

A television programme was broadcast on ] in New York on 30 November 1969, hosted by celebrity lawyer ], in which Bailey ]d LaBour and other "witnesses" about the rumour, but he left it to the viewer to determine conclusions. Before the recording, LaBour told Bailey that his article had been intended as a joke, and Bailey sighed and replied: "Well, we have an hour of television to do; you're going to have to go along with this."<ref name=Allen/>

Both Lennon and McCartney subsequently referred to the legend in their music, Lennon in his 1971 song "]" (describing as "freaks" those who had spread the rumour),<ref>{{vcite book| author=]| year=1985| title=Lennon| publisher=McGraw-Hill| isbn=978-0-07-011786-0| page=462}}</ref> and McCartney with his 1993 live album titled '']'' (parodying the ''Abbey Road'' cover and its clues).<ref>, Photos of unique Beatles rarities: Website, Retrieved 19 Sep 2010</ref>

LaBour later became notable as the bassist for the western swing group ], which he cofounded in 1977. In 2008, he joked that his success as a musician had extended his ] for creating the "Paul is Dead" hoax to "seventeen minutes".<ref>{{cite web|last1=LaBour|first1=Fred|title=True Westerners: Fred Labour - Too Slim of Riders in the Sky|url=http://www.truewestmagazine.com/fred-labour-too-slim-of-riders-in-the-sky/|website='']''|accessdate=28 June 2016|date=1 August 2008}}</ref> In 2015, he told '']'' that he is still periodically contacted by conspiracy theorists who have attempted to present him with supposed new developments on the McCartney rumours.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rubin|first1=Neal|title=Paul McCartney still isn’t dead. Neither is the story|url=http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/neal-rubin/2015/09/09/neal-rubin-column-riders-sky/71974774/|website=''The Detroit News''|accessdate=27 June 2016}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
There have been many references to the legend in popular culture.<ref name=schaffner /> Examples include:

*The plot of 1970's '']'' issue #222.<ref> Posted on ''James Paul McCartney Tribute Page'', Retrieved: 19 July 2011</ref>
*The 1978 ] film '']'' parodies the rumour with reference to ] lyrics of "Stig has been dead for ages, honestly".
*The story was discussed in a 2006 episode of the ] ] '']''.<ref>, TV3</ref>
*A 2009 '']'' magazine article featured an analysis by two forensic research consultants who compared selected photographs of McCartney taken before and after his alleged demise by measuring features of the skull.<ref>Carlesi, Gabriella ''et al.'' (2009) , ''Wired Italia''</ref>
* In 2010, American author ] published the ] novel ''Paul Is Undead: The British Zombie Invasion'', which depicts all of the Beatles as ]s except Ringo Starr.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jul/31/beatles-zombie-mashup |title=The Beatles flesh out zombie mash-up craze |first=Alison |last=Flood |newspaper=] |date=31 July 2009 |accessdate=10 January 2016}}</ref>
*A ] was released on video in 2010 entitled ''Paul McCartney Really Is Dead: The Last Testament of George Harrison?'', featuring fabricated audio tapes of a voice claiming to be Harrison explaining that the rumour was true.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hall |first=Phil |url=http://www.filmthreat.com/reviews/23356/ |title=Paul McCartney Really Is Dead: The Last Testament Of George Harrison |work=Film Threat |date=11 July 2010 |accessdate=2 December 2011}}</ref>
*The song "December is for Cynics" from ] refers to the hoax, complete with backmasked vocals stating "I buried Paul."<ref>, Plyrics</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Paul McCartney}}
{{The Beatles main}}
{{Conspiracy theories}}

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Revision as of 14:04, 16 May 2017

Shut up Luke.