The ‘Paul is dead’ rumor lives on; PLUS, the ’27 Club’ of musicians who left us way too early (with Luke Edholm)

About this episode

Bob Edholm and his nephew Luke Edholm explore the enduring 'Paul is dead' conspiracy theory and discuss the tragic phenomenon of the '27 Club' of musicians who died at age 27.

“Paul is dead” is a rumor/conspiracy theory that alleges Paul McCartney of the Beatles died on November 9, 1966, and was secretly replaced by a look-alike. The rumor gained broad popularity in the Fall of 1969 following news articles on some U.S. college campuses. According to the rumor/conspiracy theory, McCartney died in a car crash. To spare the public from grief, the surviving Beatles (John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr) 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, photos, and cover artwork. Clue hunting proved infectious, and by the Fall of 1969 had become an international phenomenon. The “Paul is dead” rumor/conspiracy declined somewhat after Life magazine published an interview with McCartney in November of 1969, but it was ranked among ten of “the world’s most enduring conspiracy theories,” according to Time magazine in 2009. In this podcast episode, host Bob Edholm and his nephew, Luke Edholm, do a “deep dive” into how the rumor/conspiracy theory began, how it grew, and why people still like to talk about it nearly six decades…

People in this episode

Host: Bob Edholm

Guest: Luke Edholm

Topics covered

• Paul is dead rumor
• 27 Club
• musicians
• conspiracy theories
• Beatles
• music history

Keywords

• Paul is dead
• 27 Club
• conspiracy theory
• Beatles
• musicians
• Brian Jones
• music history
• drug abuse
• suicide
• violent circumstances

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Beatles, Time, Life

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