The Beatles legend Paul McCartney understands the “Paul is dead” conspiracy theory was never more than just a rumor. However, the silly urban legend might actually have been more on the nose than he realized via PEOPLE.
The Beatles rocker has opened up about his struggles with the transitional period after the legendary rock band broke up in his new oral history book Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run, which is set for release on November 4th.
In an early excerpt published in The Guardian, McCartney said he’d heard the rumor of his death before, but things really picked up in the fall of 1969 after an American DJ stirred the pot, causing “millions of fans around the world [to believe] he was actually gone.”
He recalled joking to his then-wife Linda, writing, “How can I possibly be dead?” Still, the legend admitted that with the benefit of hindsight, he felt as though the rumors of his untimely demise might have been more accurate than he’d realized.
He wrote, “In so many ways, I was dead… A 27-year-old about-to-become-ex-Beatle, drowning in a sea of legal and personal rows that were sapping my energy, in need of a complete life makeover.” He also added that he wondered if he’d ever be able to move on from the “amazing decade” he spent with the Beatles.
The “Paul is dead” theory alleged that McCartney passed away in a car crash in 1966, and that the Beatles covered it up by replacing him with a look-alike. The claim has been denied over the years by various parties, though McCartney leaned in with a 1993 live album titled Paul Is Live. In 1969, he did an interview with Life magazine that largely quashed the rumor.
The Beatles disbanded in 1970, and McCartney went on to forge a successful solo career, both on his own and with his band Wings.
