As perhaps the most famous band of all time, the Beatles have been the subject of their fair share of conspiracy theories. However, among speculation about coded messages in “Helter Skelter” and urban legends about John Lennon meeting aliens, the idea that Paul McCartney died long ago and was replaced by somebody else has endured more than any other. This wild claim was said to have taken place at the height of the Beatles's fame, and it proposes that John, George, and Ringo somehow managed to find the perfect Paul replacement at the drop of a hat.

Not only does the notorious ‘Paul is Dead’ theory boggle the mind with its sheer ridiculousness, but McCartney has had an almost equally impressive career with his post-Beatles band, Wings, and as a solo artist, meaning that the new Paul was arguably even more talented than the original. Those who swear by this outlandish theory are not without their evidence, as some have pointed to clues in Beatles music and album artwork that hint the original McCartney may no longer be of this world.

The Paul Is Dead Theory Explained

Some claim McCartney died during the sessions for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

The urban legend that Paul McCartney died and was replaced with a lookalike started back in 1966 but gained widespread popularity in 1969 after it was discussed on American college radio. The story goes that a caller told the Detroit WKNR-FM DJ Russ Gibb about the rumor live on air (via Detroit News), and the host discussed the theory and its clues with more callers for the next hour. The idea behind it was that McCartney died in a car crash, and, to spare the public from grief, the Beatles, along with Britain’s MI5, quickly found a suitable replacement.

McCartney argued with his bandmates during the Sgt. Peppers recording sessions and was so distracted when he angrily drove away that he crashed his car.

While there have been different versions of this conspiracy throughout the years, the most repeated aspects of the legend state that McCartney argued with his bandmates during the Sgt. Peppers recording sessions and was so distracted when he angrily drove away that he crashed his car and died. Some said that the Beatles held a lookalike competition to find their new Paul, while other iterations of the story claim that MI5 thought McCartney’s death would be so distressing to fans that it would be dangerous to let his death be known to the public.

Why People Believed That Paul McCartney Was Replaced

It’s believed the Beatles left clues about Paul’s death in their music

While false reports of celebrities' deaths happen all the time, some people bought into the ‘Paul is Dead’ conspiracy because of the “evidence” theorists found. Whether it was clues left within Beatles music, such as “Lovely Rita” representing the meter maid who distracted Paul at an red light, or the barefooted McCartney on the cover of Abbey Road symbolizing his corpse as people are often buried without their shoes. Fans also speculated that John Lennon spoke the words “I buried Paul” in the final section of “Strawberry Fields Forever,” although he later claimed to have said “Cranberry sauce.”

McCartney himself acknowledged it in interviews where he described it as “blood stupid."

Once the rumor spread, it was impossible to stop people from speculating about it. It eventually grew so large that the Beatles' press office issued a statement calling it “a load of old rubbish” (via New York Times.) McCartney himself acknowledged it in interviews where he described it as “blood stupid” and said, “I would rather be a little less famous these days” (via Beatles Interviews.) While McCartney was frustrated by the rumor during the 1960s, he later grew a sense of humor about the whole thing, even jokingly calling his 1993 live album Paul Is Live.

Sources: Detroit News, New York Times, Beatles Interviews