Paul McCartney Became ‘Paranoid’ About Rumors He Had Died: ‘How Am I Going to Prove This Is Me?!’
The “Paul McCartney Died” conspiracy theory remains alive no matter how many public appearances McCartney has made. The former Beatle is fully aware of this conspiracy and revealed he became paranoid about proving he is still alive.
The ‘Paul is Dead’ conspiracy was fueled by the ‘Abbey Road’ cover
In 1967, McCartney was involved in a car crash. While he survived the accident, many conspiracy theories believed he died that day and was replaced by The Beatles with a lookalike. Beatles fans and conspirators have spent many hours analyzing songs and images to spot clues that Paul McCartney died. The most significant clue might be the cover of Abbey Road, a treasure trove of evidence for theorists.
Many believe that The Beatles are a funeral procession with each member representing a different ceremony member. Others have pointed to McCartney being barefoot as a clue, along with a cigarette in Paul’s non-dominant hand. There is also a Volkswagen beetle in the frame with the license plate number “28IF.” McCartney would have been 28 IF he hadn’t died in the car accident.
Paul McCartney became ‘paranoid’ over the rumors he died
In an interview for his website, Paulmccartney.com, McCartney shared how he has been affected by the “Paul is Dead” theory. The “Maybe I’m Amazed” singer says he received phone calls from people checking to see if he was alive. When they wouldn’t believe him, he became “paranoid” that some people would always believe he was dead.
“I know all the rumors… because I was being asked about them!” McCartney reveals. “There would literally be someone ringing up to ask, ‘Are you dead?’ I said, ‘Well, no. I’m answering this phone call!’ And the reply would be, ‘Well, I can’t be sure it’s you. So, then you actually do get a bit paranoid about yourself. And you think, ‘How am I going to prove to them or to anyone that this is me?!’ I figured, in time, this look-a-like will be writing some pretty decent songs, and if it wasn’t me, how had I trained him to write songs?”
‘Paul is Live’ was a response to the popular conspiracy theory
In 1993, Paul McCartney released Paul is Live, a live album from his New world Tour. The album cover was a parody of Abbey Road, with Paul walking his dog across the iconic crosswalk. The cover addressed several of the alleged clues people found. The Volkswagen beetle license plate read “58IS,” McCartney is wearing shoes, and he is holding the dog leash with his dominant hand.
“Well, that’s why we did the cover on the Abbey Road crossing with my little doggie,” McCartney explained. “This rumor had come out; it was an American DJ that had started it. And because I was barefoot in the original Abbey Road crossing picture, which really was because it was a very hot day. And I had arrived wearing sandals and kicked them off for a couple of the shots. And one of the shots we used was me without the sandals. So, you know, in those days, people were going, ‘Why has he got bare feet?’ Whereas I would say, ‘It was probably hot, and he probably took his sandals off!’ If you’re looking for conspiracies, apparently, it was some old mafia thing about being barefooted!”
Paul McCartney is still alive and well, even if some conspirators don’t want to believe it.
