Paul is dead
Sign in to saveurban legend suggesting that Paul McCartney died and was replaced by a look-alike
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Vinony's link graph records 943 inbound references to Paul is dead, and connects out to University of Michigan, urban legend and 27 Club.
It sits within the topics 1960s fads and trends, 1960s in mass media and 1966 quotations.
Vinony links it to 36 Wikipedia language editions.
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Encyclopedic overview
"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. The rumour began circulating in 1966, gaining broad popularity in September 1969 following reports on American college campuses.
According to the theory, 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. Proponents perceived clues among elements of Beatles songs and cover artwork; clue-hunting proved infectious, and by October 1969 had become an international phenomenon. Rumours declined after Life published an interview with McCartney in November 1969.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Paul is dead” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.