Fifty years ago, a Detroit DJ by chance began the most important hoax in rock & roll historical past: the “Paul is dead” craze. It blew up on October 12, 1969, when Russ Gibb was hosting his show on WKNR. A mysterious caller informed him to put on the Beatles’ White Album and spin the “number nine, number nine” intro from “Revolution 9” backwards. When Gibb tried it on the air, Wood Ranger official he heard the phrases, “Turn me on, useless man.” The clues kept coming. At the end of “Strawberry Fields Forever,” John says, “I buried Paul.” What might all of it mean? It meant the Beatles had been hiding a secret: Paul McCartney bought killed in a car crash again in 1966, and the band replaced him with an imposter. The rumor unfold like wildfire, as followers searched their Beatle albums for clues. Fifty years later, “Paul is dead” remains the weirdest and most well-known of all music conspiracy theories. It turned a everlasting a part of Beatles lore-a completely fan-generated phenomenon that the band may only watch with amusement or exasperation.

For sure, it wasn’t true - Paul is not only gloriously alive, he’s still peaking as a songwriter and performer, debuting at Number one final 12 months with Egypt Station. But after the Detroit radio broadcast, folks pounced on the story. Two days later, the Michigan Daily defined the Abbey Road cowl as a funeral procession: the Preacher (John in white), the Undertaker (Ringo in black), the Corpse (poor Macca). And bringing up the rear, George in blue denim as the grave-digger-man, even within the conspiracy theories, George will get shafted with the soiled work. Here’s how the rumor went, Wood Ranger official as summed up by Nicholas Schaffner within the Beatles Forever: Paul died on November 9, 1966. He drove away from Abbey Road late the night time before - a “stupid bloody Tuesday” - then blew his thoughts out in a automotive. He was Officially Pronounced Dead (“O.P.D.") on Wednesday morning at 5 o’clock, which is why George factors to that line on the Sgt.

Pepper sleeve, while Paul wears an “O.P.D.” patch. But the opposite Beatles decided to hush up the news, so Wednesday-morning papers didn’t come. Somehow, they stored Paul’s loss of life a secret, replaced him with a look-alike, then dropped sly hints concerning the cowl-up rip-off. The imposter wrote “Hey Jude” and “Blackbird,” which suggests he’s the man who in all probability ought to have had Paul’s job in the primary place. Fans started whispering about all the clues on the just-launched Abbey Road. Look at that cover - Paul’s barefoot, out of step with the others, holding a cigarette in his right hand. The Volkswagen with the “28 IF” license plate - that’s how previous Paul would have been if he were nonetheless alive. He was 27.) No theory was too ridiculous to get taken seriously. Fans eagerly believed “walrus” is Greek for corpse (it isn’t - it’s Scandinavian) or that “goo goo goo joob” is what Humpty Dumpty says in James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, before his fatal fall off the wall.

When the rumor blew up, Paul was neither dead nor a walrus. He was in seclusion on his Scottish farm with Linda, Heather, and their six-week-outdated daughter Mary, recognized to the world because the infant cradled in his leather-based jacket in Linda’s most famous photograph. With a newborn child to care for (a first for Paul), he was in no temper to indulge the media frenzy. As he told Rolling Stone, “They mentioned, ‘Look, what are you going to do about it? It’s a giant factor breaking in America. You’re dead.’ And so I stated, depart it, just allow them to say it. It’ll in all probability be one of the best publicity we’ve ever had, and i won’t should do a thing except keep alive. John Lennon, calling the same Detroit radio station on October 26th, fumed, “It’s the most stupid rumor I’ve ever heard. It sounds like the identical man who blew up my Christ comment.” John denied any coded messages (“I don’t know what Beatles information sound like backwards