10 Bizarre Conspiracy Theories About The Deaths Of Music Icons
5. Paul McCartney Died In 1966
The 'Paul is dead' urban legend is perhaps the most famous conspiracy theory on our list. According to the theory, the original Paul McCartney died in November of 1966, and the Beatles decided to replace him with a look-alike. Sounds an awful lot like the Avril Lavigne story, doesn't it?
As the tale goes, McCartney was killed in a car accident, and to spare the world from unbearable grief, The Beatles decided to cover it up. Instead of publicly mourning the popular singer, the band chose to hold a McCartney look-alike contest and simply replace their fallen comrade with a guy named Billy Shears.
Afterward, the band felt a bit guilty about the hoax and decided to put some clues in their music and artwork. Lyrics from the song "Glass Onion," which include the lines 'I told you about the walrus and me, man. You know we're as close as can be, man. Here's another clue for you all / the walrus was Paul,' is a prime example.
Despite the fact that there was absolutely no compelling evidence to support the idea, the 'Paul is dead' theory was a talking point on mainstream radio stations and covered by the press. It actually became quite a hot topic in 1969.
However, after an interview with McCartney was published in Life magazine addressing the rumor, the theory mostly died out.