Paul Is Dead: how did the Paul McCartney rumour catch on that it led him to declare he's still alive?
It’s been one of the more enduring celebrity death hoaxes, long before social media.
But on October 24 1969, two Life magazine reporters found Paul McCartney to reveal he hadn’t actually died in a car crash.
Benjamin Jackson looks back at how the rumour gained traction in 1969 and what breadcrumbs The Beatles left to tell the world “Paul is dead”.
Legend has it that on October 24 1969, Life magazine reporters Dorothy "Dot" Jenkins and Timothy Harper visited a farm in Scotland to interview former Beatle Paul McCartney.
That sounds run-of-the-mill, with McCartney at this point in time married to the late Linda McCartney and wanting to have a quieter family life with his two children. But it would be during this interview, that was subsequently published on November 7 1969, that Paul addressed a rumour that had blown up that year.
"Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated. However, if I were dead, I'm sure I'd be the last to know."
It would spell an end to the long standing suggestion that Sir Paul McCartney had died supposedly of a car accident back in 1966, and that the McCartney that was with the band between the releases from Revolver to Abbey Road was a replacement.
Those album releases didn’t stave off the rumours and in fact became breadcrumbs with many who believed in the death hoax pointing to hidden messages and meanings throughout the height of the “Paul is dead” craze.
Ahead of McCartney’s Get Back tour, set to take place at Manchester’s Co-op Live on December 14 and 15, and then London’s The O2 on December 18 and 19, let’s find out (those of us of a much younger age) how the rumours began and, of course, what “clues” were hidden by the Beatles to let us know that Paul was, in fact, dead.
How did the “Paul is dead” rumour begin in the first place?
Even in 2024, it would appear Sir Paul McCartney cannot dodge the "Paul is dead" hoaxes.Even in 2024, it would appear Sir Paul McCartney cannot dodge the "Paul is dead" hoaxes. There had always been rumours about either McCartney’s demise or him going solo dating back to 1966, when media outlets called then Beatles press officer, Tony Barrow, to enquire whether the musician was experiencing ill health or if he had in fact died.
Source: Benjamin Jackson/yorkshirepost.co.uk
