The “Paul Is Dead” theory is an urban legend and conspiracy theory that emerged in the 1970s, based on the alleged death of English musician Paul McCartney in a car accident in Scotland in 1966. The theory suggests that the Beatles replaced McCartney with a doppelganger to prevent an outbreak of conspiracy among fans worldwide. In February 1967, a strange aside appeared in the Beatles Monthly Book, the band’s official fan magazine, which noted that stories about The Beatles were always flying around. The theory posits that McCartney was tragically killed in a car accident in 1966.
In response to McCartney’s solo LP “Ram”, which featured the track “Too Many People”, Lennon targeted McCartney with the song “How Do You Sleep?” in his 1971 album Imagine. The song’s lyrics refer to the “Paul is Dead” conspiracy theory, with Lennon describing theorists as “freaks” who “was right when they said you was dead”. The “Paul is Dead” craze began on October 12, 1969, when Russ Gibb hosted his show on WKNR.
The theory suggests that the Beatles were hiding a secret: McCartney was killed in a car crash in 1966, and the band replaced him with an imposter. The truth about the urban legend is finally revealed by George Harrison in newly discovered secret audio tapes: McCartney was killed in a car crash in 1966.
The conspiracy theory has become one of popular interest among fans, with some believing that McCartney was secretly killed and replaced with a look-alike in The Beatles. The theory has been a topic of debate and speculation among fans, with some claiming it was a venomous retort to his ex-bandmate Paul McCartney in an ongoing feud after the break-up of The Beatles.
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📹 Paul McCartney on Who Broke Up the Beatles
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The Beatles had been split up for ten years when John was murdered: plenty of time for the guys to argue, fallout, make up, argue, fallout again and make up again many times, thank God. Here, Paul is being asked about a band he was in 48 years ago! Imagine someone asking you stuff about a job you’d done that long ago. It must seem like it was in a previous life to him. Bless us :o)
As Paul said: John needed powerful women and he fell in love with one. At the time, that close relationship between John and Yoko was odd for the other three. There was also the management issue that put Paul against the other three (Paul was right in the end…). The fact is that all of them needed a break. They were all recording their own material. Maybe Paul was the only one who at the time understood that The Beatles was their lucky break – and throwing that away for good would be wrong. All too complicated for the boys, but today it is so good to see Paul talking about these sad times with such generosity.
Regardless of what had happened to them. At the end of the day, they left us with such great music. The song writing machine that they were was extraordinary. 10 years together and the number of songs they wrote were insane, and hit after hit. No one else can do that these days I don’t think. And that’s why most people including myself consider them as the Greatest band of all time.
Yeah even John said in later interviews he told Paul he’s leaving the group. So John was first. Paul often still gets the blame for the breakup because he made it public he’s leaving. John never did tell the public, he stayed quiet about it because Abbey Road was being released at the time. George wanted out too of course. As if Lennon and McCartney weren’t each big enough, now George had developed into a huge artist too. They simply outgrew them all being in one band together. Look at all the solo stuff each did or were starting on even before the Beatles officially ended in ’70.
The Beatles are by far my favorite band and inspired me to the point where I got involved with music and built my own recording studio and Sir Paul is Sir Paul for a reason. For the biggest songwriting team of the 20th century, Lennon and McCartney were always very approachable; to the point where it got John killed by a “fan” and Paul is still extremely kind to fans to this day.
When Paul is saying John broke up the Beatles, I think he is referring to John leaving around September 1969. There was a group meeting held and John said right there that he wanted to leave. The other guys told him to keep it on the down low cause they didn’t want to make a big deal out of. So on paper, John was still in the band except that was a lie. It wasn’t until April 1970 when Paul announced he was leaving that it became public.
When I think of the Beatles break up, I’m reminded of the line from NIN’s song “Hurt”. “What have I become My sweetest friend Everyone I know Goes away in the end And you could have it all My empire of dirt I will let you down I will make you hurt” It is powerfully illustrated in Johnny Cash’s cover of it on article.
I don’t think young people today can ever really comprehend just how huge and influential the Beatles were back in the day. I was born a couple years after they broke up, and it took me until my teen years to really get it. Just about every single band that formed after them in the 60s and 70s were influenced by them in some way. In fact, there really wasn’t such a thing as a band without a frontman before The Beatles. It was always “Buddy Holly and The Crickets” or whatever. Bands were just the backup to a lead guy here in America. Then The Beatles broke big here and that all changed.
John himself claimed that he broke up the band. He even semi-bragged about it and claimed that Paul wanted to seem like he broke them up– like it was a badge of honor that they were trying to achieve. If anything, without Paul they probably would have broken up sometime slightly before the Sergeant Peppers era. As I’ve gotten older I’ve respected that Paul kept them motivated and together when they were so far up their own arses that they wanted to rest on their own laurels. He was the adamant about them touring– he was unsuccessful in persuading them to do it. George was the most opposed to it. And I probably don’t even need to write about John’s long stretches of hibernation. Yeah, so bless Paul.
A few months before his death John Lennon (and Yoko) did a interview with Playboy magazine. Lennon said that when they were in the studio recording Get Back, Lennon says Paul would always glance over at Yoko as he sang “get back to where you once belonged.” Playboy’s response: Really? Lennon: Yes, but Paul would probably say I was being paranoid.
I love how he sounds comprehensive talking about John & the fights with the others members, cause it seems that he’s been through anger, sadness and now he see things in another way. Its called “growing up” and I’m sure John would be the same, he assumed that he messed up as a father to Julian and how his childhood without his parents affected him. John was not saint, but he also was not a monster some love to paint so PLEASE before assuming anything just realise that the man its not here anymore to defend himself and to say “I’m sorry”.
Howard is amazing indeed. Everybody else repeat the same questions and get the same answers repeated to them. Howard is actually a big fan himself and therefore he gets very close to Paul with these personal, obscure questions. I mean, a majority of fans know about these stories already but nobody gets Paul to open up about it like Howard does. He works out the questions smoothly and still remains very respectful.
The thing Paul won’t tell you is everyone was sick of Paul trying to be the leader of the band, both from a business and creative standpoint. He was the one constantly ringing people up to come do a new album after Brian Epstein died. Paul was the one trying to hold everything together, and a little too tightly might I add. So when John met Yoko, and fell madly in love with her, he decided to just end the whole deal with The Beatles and move on because he was tired of making music with the same guys all the time. John said so himself in a 1975 interview with Tom Snyder. George was tired of being kept out of the creative process aside from one or two tracks per album, which George admitted was his reason for wanting out to Dick Cavett just after The Beatles broke up. And Ringo was just sick of the other three’s constant bickering in the studio and feeling left out of the creative process too, something he admitted to in the 90’s documentary.
The Beatles: They got along and had tons of fun for 4 guys that were practically glued together for over a decade. They made plenty of money for one lifetime. Their careers didn’t end when they broke up. In fact they wrote and sold songs they directed at each other. They did more things and went more places in this world than the average person. No wonder after the break up John said The Beatles are just a band that’s all. It was just a small part of their lives and it was time to go on to different experiences. What they did was their business.
I don’t think the blame can really be placed on one person. A lot of things contributed. John didnt like Pauls increasing dominance since Epstein’s death, Paul didnt want Allen Klein but the others did, George didn’t like seeing his songs get turned down, the others didn’t like John bringing Yoko to the studio, and John’s heroin problems affected his collaboration with the others.
I would’ve want to know from Paul if there was any truth to this: around 1980-ish, Neil Aspinall was trying to put together a documentary on the band called the Long and Winding Road. The movie was supposed to end with a performance from the band reunited- which was going to be filmed in early 1981. Yoko has confirmed that John planned going back to London in January 1981. So basically, the four guys were probably arranging to meet up for this documentary and/or just meet up to discuss something. Obviously, this didn’t happen since John died in December 1980. That documentary wouldn’t be released until the 1990s, which is now known as the Beatles Anthology mini-series. For some of those Anthology interviews, Paul, George and Ringo /did/ actually get together. It sounds a little out there that the band were just a month away from reuniting but if Paul or Ringo ever confirmed that- wow. All Paul has said is that he and John did discuss reuniting but they ended up agreeing that they wouldn’t want to tarnish their very consistent discography. What if they made a reunion album and it went all wrong? They had a good thing for ten years and they decided to leave it as that.
I was about twelve when the Beatles exploded in North America. You have to have lived during that time period to fully appreciate the impact they had on our lives. It was as if the Messiah had come to Earth. It ushered in the psychedelic era and laid the groundwork for the golden age of music. The Doors, Hendrix, Cream, all of this fantastic music born because of them. From Love Me Do to Strawberry Fields their evolution has never been surpassed. Each successive album was a blueprint for other artists to build upon. Does anyone know on what tv program the Beatles made their first North American appearance?
Excellent interview, I wanted it to go on so much longer. I also loved Too Many People, always remember it was overshadowed by Maybe I’m Amazed. Very telling that Paul does not even mention Allen Klein’s name, he was such a lowlife scumbag. I always wondered why none of the Beatles ever bothered to speak to the guys in the Rolling Stones about Klein. After Andrew Loog Oldham left in the mid 1960s, Klein was hired and proceeded to rip them off so bad, by the 1970s they were flat broke. Finally with the release of Sticky Fingers in 1971, they were rid of this parasite.
He’s too politically correct to say it, but by most accounts the most divisive force was in fact Yoko — too passive aggressive; an outsider wanting to rule the roost. But then again, Lennon was the one that brought her into the picture and empowered her to behave the way she did. Anyway, it’s all part of their history now, and their private lives and struggles are their business. I’m just glad that the music is there for everyone to enjoy.
Man I love this interview!!! Paul is being honest and straightforward and he’s not dodging anything or double speaking he’s just being himself with no malice or hatred. This is a great example of how an interview should be and kudos to Howard Stern for asking great questions but not overriding and controlling the interview. I have to watch this again.
Who is McCartney referring to when he says that the Beatles almost lost everything? Dick James, who sold the rights to their songs in 1969? Regardless, McCartney has been the most financially successful ex-Beatle, in part because Linda’s father became his lawyer and financial manager and gave him good advice.
Three months ago I purchased a new car which included a 1 year “free,” subscription to SiriusXM. ( I would never pay for radio.) So, I heard the full interview on Howard 100 last week. It was brilliant. Honestly, Sirius should pay Howard whatever he wants to stay when the time comes… because Howard (and these types of interviews) are the only content worth purchasing a subscription to. Great job HS!
A few years back ringo played in Worcester Massachusetts at the DCU center. At the time i said ” it will be great if paul will be with him” but he wasnt. Literally after the ringo concert paul had a concert in fenway park lol. Kind of a slap too the face since more people filled fenway park than the DCU center.
It all started with “Hello Goodbye.” John thought it was a weak and derivative song. He preferred “I am the Walrus,” which was his song 100% and wanted it to be an A-side single. He got overruled and Hello Goodbye released as the A side and Walrus the B side. He never got over that and harbored it. Imagine being a painter but all of your works are done with you and 3 other people and each person has 1/4 share power with their vote on what the painting should be. That’s very constricting for an artist. As time goes on, they can take only so many Walrus moments. But these guys were under a different kind of pressure not seen by many bands before or since. The band only had about 9 commercial years 1962-1970 and they produced 13 original albums. 4 out of the 9 years they release 2 albums. By 1970 they were wrung-out and tired. The really crazy thing: Harrison was only 27 when the band broke-up.
The problem was the Beatles had been living in each others pocket through this incredible fame for over a decade, no surprise they got fed up with each other. Nowadays bands such as U2 and the Arctic Monkey record an album & go on tour then often take a break for several years before getting back together. The Beatles never had this opportunity as record companies in the 60s and 70s demanded new albums continuously.
It was Paul’s terrible behavior that the other three Beatles were wanting out. Paul and Klein asked John to remain quiet about leaving the Beatles until Let I Be was released. Then, Paul went the media and said he was leaving the band to promote his solo album. The media blamed Paul, because Paul is the one who announced it. His manipulation backfired on him big time. Had Paul not be so tyrannical and controlling, perhaps they could have agreed to stay together, but do some solo work. I blame Paul’s behavior for it all.