‘PAUL IS DEAD’ AND THE BEATLES’ SATANIC LEGACY

‘PAUL IS DEAD’ AND THE BEATLES’ SATANIC LEGACY

By ANDREW GOUGH

January 2025

Do You Want to Know a Secret?

Whispers of a dark secret have lingered through the corridors of rock history for decades: had Paul McCartney, the adored Beatle, perished in a fatal car crash in 1966? According to the chilling, if not incredible rumour, he was replaced by a look-alike, a session musician who seamlessly stepped into his iconic shoes. To this day the eerie tale continues to haunt fans, casting a shadow over one of the most beloved bands in rock ‘n’ roll history.

The Beatles leap for joy, 1963

The details surrounding Paul McCartney’s alleged death are shrouded in mystery, with each version of the tale more disturbing than the last. In this exposé I will unravel the evidence behind each theory, from the gruesome car crash to the more fantastical accounts of murder. Along the way, we’ll explore the possibility that this entire rumour might have been a cunning hoax – a clever ploy to fuel record sales and keep fans enthralled.

We will start by looking at the soft evidence surrounding Paul McCartney’s alleged death in 1966, focusing on the noticeable shifts in the band’s behaviour, song lyrics and album artwork. Then, we will move on to the hard evidence, such as DNA, fingerprints, voice analysis, and physical characteristics. Both types – the suggestive and the scientific – offer fascinating, surprising, and often compelling insights. Stay with me as we lay the groundwork for what amounts to one of the most peculiar and complex mysteries of our time.

Did Paul McCartney die in 1966?

Did Paul McCartney die in 1966?
© Photo: Metaweb | CC-BY

Do You Promise Not to Tell?

Once upon a time, news of Paul McCartney’s death dominated front pages, and captivated the world with its shocking details. News of his death even appeared, albeit briefly, on both UK and US television on 12 September 1966. Yet, over the years, the once-explosive story has faded into obscurity, dismissed by most as little more than an outlandish conspiracy theory. But was it really? Or is there more to the rumour than we thought?

By 1966 the Beatles had become a global sensation. With half a dozen albums to their name, they had conquered the US, claimed the top five spots on the Billboard Top 100, dazzled millions on the Ed Sullivan television show, and weathered controversies, such as promoting hard drugs, and the bold claim by John Lennon that they were “more popular than Jesus”. As a result, their planes were shot at and the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) protested against their US concerts, with anti-Jewish and homophobic slurs targeted at their gay (then illegal) and Jewish manager, Brian Epstein. Despite the backlash, they had become the most popular entertainment act the world had ever known. But even their most loyal fans couldn’t deny that something changed that year. The darlings of pop began to act strangely. Their music remained transformative, yet something felt off. What were they hiding? Could it have been the sudden death of Paul McCartney?

We will begin with the classic ‘Paul is Dead’ story. According to the lore, Paul McCartney allegedly crashed his 1965 Aston Martin DB6 late on the night of Sunday 10 September 1966.

The tragic accident, it is said, claimed his life just hours later, on the morning of Monday 11 September. While the details are sketchy, the tale stipulates that Paul had stormed out of Abbey Road Studios (then known as EMI Recording Studios) after a heated argument with manager Brian Epstein, who had pressured him for five new songs before John returned from filming How I Won the War. At the time Ringo was in Surrey, and George was far from the studio, leaving both free of suspicion of what may have prompted Paul’s outburst.

 

He Blew His Mind Out in a Car

It was overcast the evening Paul sped away from Abbey Road Studios. As the rain began to fall, he spotted a striking woman by the roadside, suitcase in hand, thumbing for a ride. In some versions the woman’s name is Rita; in others, Donna. Paul stopped to offer her a lift and, once inside, she quickly realised she was in the presence of a Beatle. Excitedly, she fumbled with the radio, desperate to find a Beatles song they could sing along to.

Lovely Rita, meter maid
Nothing can come between us
When it gets dark, I tow your heart away…
Got the bill and Rita paid it

Took her home and nearly made it…
(“Lovely Rita” | Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band | 1967)

However, Paul and his fan’s jubilance was short-lived, for his car soon careered off the road, violently wrapping around a pole. In some accounts he ran a red light and was hit by a yellow truck, resulting in decapitation and car fire. Both died instantly. In another account, the woman managed to crawl from the wreckage and seek help, but by the time she returned to save Paul, the car had exploded, leaving him trapped and virtually beheaded.

Bang! Bang! Maxwell’s silver hammer
Came down upon his head
Clang! Clang! Maxwell’s silver hammer
Made sure that he was dead
(“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” | Abbey Road | 1969)

The Beatles would write about the crash, real or imagined, with explicit references to Paul and the woman on that fateful Sunday – on their way back home to source, “burning” like matches and “lifting (car) latches” in an attempt to escape the horror.

I see the crystal raindrops fall…
You and me Sunday driving
Not arriving on our way back home
We’re on our way home
We’re on our way home
We’re going home
Two of us sending postcards
Writing letters on my wall
You and me burning matches
Lifting latches on our way back home…
Just the two of us
Building them castles in the sky…
You and me chasing paper
(“The Two of Us” | Let It Be | 1970)

He blew his mind out in a car
He didn’t notice that the lights had changed
(“A Day in the Life: | Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band | 1967)

The rain exploded with a might crash as we fell into the sun
(“Band On The Run” | Band On The Run | 1973)

A frame from Paul McCartney and Wings’ 1984 short film, No more Lonely Nights, highlights the time of the alleged crash, just before midnight. And George would refer to the time of the morning that Paul died years later, in his solo work, When We Was Fab. And there are many others.

When We Was Fab
Caresses fleeced you in the morning light
Casualties at dawn
(“When We Was Fab” | Cloud 9 | 1987)

In other versions of Paul’s alleged death, 5am is also cited as the time his body was discovered – murdered.

Wednesday morning at five o’clock
As the day begins
(“She’s Leaving Home” | Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band | 1967)

The crash and alleged death of Paul McCartney was announced in the US on 12 September 1966 during the premiere episode of the Monkees’ television show. The announcement was broadcast on both the East and West coasts, with the West-coast version specifically naming Paul McCartney as the Beatle involved and confirming his death. The special report promised details at 11pm (EST), but when the time came no further information was given, and the initial bulletin was neither retracted nor explained. Over the years several people have come forward with sworn testimonies, claiming that they vividly remember the mysterious news flash that night in 1966, fuelling ongoing speculation that the news flash was fact not fiction.

At the time of the alleged crash the Beatles had just wrapped up what would be their final tour of the US – or anywhere else for that matter. This raised a pressing question: why did they stop touring? Rumours swirled about a car registered to Paul that had been totalled in a fatal accident. The band had to act swiftly to suppress the story before it gained traction.

Paul’s alleged crash and death was front-page news

Paul’s alleged crash and death was front-page news

It is crucial to understand the sheer chaos that would have erupted if the most beloved member of the world’s most revered band had met a sudden, violent death in their prime. Remember how the world mourned in shock when Princess Diana suddenly died in a car crash? Paul’s alleged death (11 September 1966), coming on the heels of John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s assignation a few years earlier (22 November 1963), would likely have been too much for the public to suffer. The band would have been shattered and the public devastated and driven to despair – perhaps even suicide. But beyond the emotional toll, those lurking in the shadows, profiting from the Beatles’ commercial success and their calculated influence on societal values – whether through anti-Christian rhetoric or the promotion of drugs like LSD and marijuana – would have seen their carefully orchestrated plans for social disruption crumble. The implications would have been catastrophic for what some believe were the broader agendas of the so-called New World Order. Moreover, the act of replacing the deceased Paul with an imposter amounts to a serious form of identity theft – a crime with severe legal consequences. If such a revelation were to surface today, particularly while Sir Paul McCartney is still alive, the legal fallout would be staggering, and far-reaching.

What secrets did Paul McCartney keep?

What secrets did Paul McCartney keep?
© Metaweb | CC-BY

Who would have benefited most from replacing Paul McCartney with a lookalike in the Beatles? While the public would certainly benefit from the continuity, the real answer probably lies with the behind-the-scenes masterminds who have guided the band’s career from the very beginning. The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, founded in 1947, is a British organisation focused on social-science research, group dynamics and organisational behaviour. It has influenced fields such as healthcare and education, but is often the subject of conspiracy theories. These theories suggest that Tavistock engages in social engineering to shape societal norms, manipulate public opinion and promote cultural shifts, particularly through the 1960s counterculture and music, like the Beatles. Some also link Tavistock to mind-control experiments and programmes like MKUltra, claiming it has worked with governments and corporations to control populations or advance hidden agendas. Who am I to argue? Just look at the integrity and apparent motive of the world’s 3-letter organisations today: the WEF, WHO, CIA, FBI, etc. You can decide for yourself.

There was another reason the Beatles’ puppet masters would want to see them continue in their original form. The Beatles were incredibly profitable in the 1960s, becoming one of the most commercially successful music acts in history. Their financial success stemmed from a combination of record sales, concerts, merchandise and publishing rights. The Beatles sold over 600 million albums worldwide during their career, with the bulk of those sales happening in the 1960s. During their touring years the Beatles generated huge revenue from live performances. Their 1965 concert at Shea Stadium, for example, drew more than 55,000 fans (a record for the time) and earned them $160,000 in ticket sales (around $1.5 million today).

The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show – a performance that broke the band internationally

The publishing company Northern Songs, co-founded by the Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein, handled the rights to their music. Even though the Beatles did not own the rights directly, the sheer volume of radio play and cover versions of their songs generated enormous profits. Further, the Beatles also profited from their films like A Hard Day’s Night (1964) and Help! (1965), which were box-office hits. These films, along with their associated soundtracks, added to their revenue stream. By the late 1960s the Beatles had become a multi-million-dollar business. Their unprecedented success not only made them cultural icons, but also one of the most lucrative acts in entertainment history – and everyone wanted a piece of them – including the British gangsters, the Krays. And why not? It is estimated that by the end of the 1960s, the Beatles’ total earnings exceeded $1 billion (adjusted for inflation), making them a commercial powerhouse unlike any other. Now we can see why the powers that be were so keen to keep the band together – and at all costs.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles

The story goes that before Paul’s death Brian Epstein interviewed lookalikes due to Paul having been ill and needing a stand-in for a live performance. It seems that a Paul lookalike began performing as early as 1965, with band members providing real-time instructions to him on stage. Epstein was also aware of a talented session musician named William Shepherd (also known as William Campbell), of Scottish and Irish descent, born in 1937 and five years older than Paul. While there were other candidates for Paul’s replacement, none had the right blend of musicianship and physical resemblance. Although a proper Paul McCartney look-alike contest was won by Keith Allison, who went on to become a member of Paul Revere & the Raiders, William was the only real option they had.  Shepherd had a voice like Paul’s and a physical appearance that could be moulded via surgery and styling to closely resemble him. Ultimately, Shepherd was chosen to replace Paul and keep the press from further investigating the tragedy.

 

“Let Me Introduce to You the One and Only Billy Shears”

Before we proceed, I would like to draw your attention to a remarkable book entitled The Memoirs of Billy Shears, first released on 09-09-09 (the mirror of 666) and updated periodically since. The book claims to be written in the voice of the man hired by Tavistock to replace Paul after his untimely death in 1966. That man, William Shepherd – better known as Billy Shears – shares an astonishingly detailed account of his life as a Beatle in the 666-page dossier, with a level of authenticity that is both illuminating and unsettling. The book is penned by Thomas E. Uharriet, described on the inner sleeve as the “Encoder for the protagonist, Billy Shears”. While Uharriet has written several other works exploring spiritual themes, how he first came to collaborate with Billy Shears is unclear. This ambiguity only deepens the intrigue surrounding their connection, suggesting a partnership that is far more complex than it initially appears. For clarity, we will refer to Paul’s supposed replacement, from September 1966 onward, as “Billy”. What follows is truly “A Long and Winding Road” to uncovering the truth, if in a tale as shadowy as this, such a thing can ever be found.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

The curiously authentic memories of Paul’s replacement, William Shepherd (Billy Shears)

If you comb YouTube for ‘Paul Is Dead’ videos, you will find numerous theories, most of which paint Billy as an opportunistic imposter, who infiltrated the Beatles, forcefully assuming Paul’s identity, and wealth, against the will of John, George and Ringo. However, it appears that the band had no choice. Tavistock was determined not to let the world’s most profitable musical powerhouse collapse due to the death of its much-loved star. Their motivation extended beyond financial interests; they sought to ensure the continuation of the counterculture movement – a program many believe has culminated in today’s government-controlled media, the rise of woke culture, pro-transgender agendas, and anti-family narratives that are so prevalent in liberal circles.

In The Memoirs of Billy Shears a new twist on the car-crash theory emerges: Paul had been troubled by nightmares since 29 January 1965 that not only foretold his death, but also the need for him to find his own replacement. John, George and Ringo thought he was losing his mind, as did his girlfriend, the actress Jane Asher, her family, and his friends from the Rolling Stones, The Who and Donovan, who indulged him as he obsessively shared his disturbing visions.

In an extraordinary account, Billy recalls his first meeting with Paul, who was visibly unsettled upon seeing him, having previously identified him in his dreams as his future replacement. Billy shares this experience in The Memoirs of Billy Shears:

One night at the 1965 spring celebration, Paul, Keith Moon and two or three inebriated women were laughing about something when one of the girls leaned back and tripped right next to me. When I helped the pretty girl up, Denny (Laine from the Moody Blues) introduced me to Paul and Keith. Paul’s face turned ghostly pale. Horrified, he rushed away. Later that same night, Keith apologetically said that Paul had seen my face in a dream, but did not realise that it was me until that night.

Once they started, Paul’s foreboding dreams of death never stopped, and even the song, “Eleanor Rigby” hinted at the dilemma of his future funeral, and how secretive it would need to be. In The Memoirs of Billy Shears, Billy claims that the song’s lyrics originally referenced Father McCartney – not Mackenzie:

Father Mackenziе
Writing the words of a sermon
That no one will hear no one comes near
(“Eleanor Rigby” | Revolver | 1966)

Similarly, “Dear Prudence” (1968) is said to reflect John’s wish for Paul’s spirit to return and be with them, with the original lyrics expressing that longing: “Dear McCartney, won’t you come out to play?” Incidentally, the Beatles are rumoured to have held séances on several occasions, to try and summon Paul’s spirit, including one with Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones.

Later, in Paul McCartney and Wings, Billy echoes the haunting reality of Paul’s secretive funeral, capturing the profound isolation of loss and the chilling silence that underscores how easily vibrant lives can fade into unacknowledged farewells:

Well the undertaker drew a heavy sigh
Seeing no one else had come
(“Band On The Run” | Band On The Run | 1973)

An intriguing element of the ‘Paul is Dead’ theory claims that he was buried in London’s gothic Highgate Cemetery on 13 September 1966, under the name James Peter McKilroy, with only Ringo and George in attendance. In the 1995 video for the Beatles’ song “Free as a Bird” (originally demoed by John Lennon but re-recorded by the remaining members years later), a tomb featured in the rural setting resembles the heavily wooded Highgate Cemetery and prominently displays the phrase “In Loving Memory ELEANOR RIGBY 12 September”. Many notable musicians are buried in Highgate, including the late George Michael. Two weeks after Paul’s supposed funeral, on 25 September, Brian Epstein was hospitalised for severe anxiety, reportedly over the Beatles’ decision to stop touring. Could this anxiety have stemmed from Paul’s sudden death and illegal replacement? Imagine if he, the manager of the world’s most famous ensemble, were to have been found out?

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

The date 12 September appears on a tomb in the video of “Free As A Bird”
© The Beatles

In The Memoirs of Billy Shears we learn that one of Paul’s reoccurring dreams was that he picked up a hitchhiker, who was acting in a bit of a frenzy when she realised who he was and wanted to find a Beatles song on the radio that he could sing for her. Thus, it was her behaviour, the distraction, and not her good looks that instigated Paul’s accident. That said, the Beatles song “Good Morning Good Morning” would suggest otherwise:

Watching the skirts you start to flirt, now you’re in gear…
Nothing to do to save his life
(“Good Morning Good Morning” | Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band | 1967)

According to The Memoirs of Billy Shears, Paul’s 1965 song “I’m Down” was his way of expressing his resentment over his friend’s scepticism surrounding his prophetic fears.

How can you laugh when you know I’m down?
(“I’m Down” | B-side to “Help” | 1965)

Two years after Paul’s alleged death, Ringo and the Beatles sang about the guilt he felt of doubting the authenticity of Paul’s ominous dreams:

I’m sorry that I doubted you, I was so unfair
You were in a car crash, and you lost your hair
You said that you would be late, about an hour or two
I said that’s alright, I’m waiting here, just waiting to hear from you
Don’t pass me by, don’t make me cry, don’t make me blue
(“Don’t Pass Me By” | The White Album | 1968)

Not the reference to the lyric, “you lost your hair”? To address why this theme occurs over and over again in the Beatles’ songs I must introduce a disturbing image that I share with both trepidation and respect. In The Memoirs of Billy Shears, Billy reveals that at the one minute and 51 second mark of his video for the song “1882” – written in 1970 and intended for the Paul McCartney and Wings album Red Rose Speedway (when it was planned as a double album, but later pulled) – there is an extremely rapid frame that reveals an alleged photograph of Paul in the morgue, face mutilated and unrecognisable. This grotesque photograph of Paul after his car crash was supposedly taken by Brian Epstein. The chilling image is said to have inspired various references in the Beatles’ lyrics, including Ringo’s mention of “you lost your hair.” One account even suggests that a police officer in the morgue remarked that Paul’s disfigured face resembled a walrus, leading John Lennon to punch the officer in the face.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Paul McCartney in the morgue
© Brian Epstein © Paul McCartney

I told you about the walrus and me, man
You know that we’re as close as can be, man
Well, here’s another clue for you all
The walrus was Paul
(“Glass Onion” | White Album | 1968)

Other references to the peculiar condition of Paul’s hair include:

Here comes old flat-top…
(“Come Together” | Abbey Road | 1969)

When I get older losing my hair
(“When I’m 64” | Yellow Submarine | 1967)

In The Memoirs of Billy Shears, we learn that Paul’s father and stepmother did not recognise the body, nor his clothes, and stressed that Paul had often loaned his cars to friends, especially his Aston Martin. In one instance, he instructed an associate to drive to Heathrow airport to pick up the singer Marianne Faithful. On the way back to London, Paul’s chauffeur received a speeding ticket for travelling at 140 mph on the M4 motorway. Thus, the question is: was it truly Paul’s body in the morgue?

Baby, you can drive my car
(“Drive my Car” | Rubber Soul | 1965)

Given the condition of the body, Paul’s dentist was consulted, but even with dental records, he could not confirm that it was Paul. Despite some similarities, the body in the morgue was missing a tooth. Even Brian Epstein, who examined the body closely, did not think it was Paul’s. Who then, could it have been? And if it was someone else, then what happened to Paul and what was his motive for essentially faking his own death?

 

Band on the Run

Investigators and journalists were aware that a car with Paul’s registration number had been totalled and that there were no survivors. What’s more, they were becoming increasingly impatient to announce Paul’s death in the newspapers. Epstein had no choice but to contact William Shepherd (Billy Shears), whom he had previously considered as a potential replacement, should Paul’s dreams prove true. John was in Germany, having completed his work on the film How I Won the War, and had returned to Hamburg to revisit the places the Beatles had frequented at the start of their career. According to The Memoirs of Billy Shears, John returned to his hotel to find a telegram from Epstein and instantly understood its cryptic meaning – Paul had been replaced. But how? And why hadn’t he been consulted? The telegram allegedly read:

PAUL WAS RIGHT. DREAMS CAME TRUE. HE IS A NEW MAN NOW. ORGANISE YOUR SCHEDULE TO MEET ME AT 1PM TOMORROW.

Tuesday passed without any contact from Epstein, leaving John in a state of confusion and distress throughout the day.

Stupid bloody Tuesday
Man, you’ve been a naughty boy
You let your face grow long (I am the Walrus)
(“I am the Walrus” | Magical Mystery Tour | 1967)

Meanwhile, Epstein faced significant pressure from a Birmingham reporter named Sam Wells, who had inspected Paul’s demolished car and was convinced that Paul had been in it. Clearly, Wells recognised the enormity of the scoop and was determined to reveal it. To silence him, Epstein offered a large sum of money and a cruise to Italy for Wells and his wife. However, this proved more challenging than anticipated and Epstein was required to enlist the help of a powerful Tavistock agent to impress upon Wells the dire personal consequences of revealing the story.

An intriguing detail is that in September 1966 (the same month as Paul’s alleged crash) George Harrison and his wife, Pattie Boyd, travelled to India and checked into the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay under the alias ‘Sam Wells’. The effort to stifle the Birmingham reporter appeared to be a priority. Billy would later reference the silencing of Sam Wells both with the Beatles, and twice on his post-Beatles Paul McCartney and Wings album, Band on the Run.

Friday night arrives without a suitcase…
Tuesday afternoon is never ending

Wednesday morning papers didn’t come
(“Lady Madonna” | B-side to “Inner Light” | 1968)

The Beatles captured the anxiety-filled afternoon John spent waiting for Epstein with the lyric, “Tuesday afternoon is never ending”. The line reflects John’s anxious wait in Hamburg after receiving Epstein’s telegram, anticipating confirmation of what he feared most: that Paul had died and had already been replaced. The lyric “Wednesday morning papers didn’t come” alludes to the threat by Sam Wells that news of Paul’s death would be published in the Wednesday papers if he wasn’t paid by 5pm on Tuesday. And on “Band on the Run”, Billy (now free of the shackles of the Beatles) is slightly more explicit with a direct reference to “Sailor Sam” (Sam Wells and his wife sailed to Italy as part of the hush settlement):

And the jailer man and Sailor Sam
Were searching everyone
For the band on the run
…And the county judge, who held a grudge

Will search forevermore
For the band on the run
(“Band On The Run” | Wings – Band On The Run | 1973)

Sailor Sam he came from Birmingham
But he never will be found
(“Helen Wheels” | Wings – Band On The Run | 1973)

The Beatles were on the run, and Sailor Sam had vanished without a trace.

According to The Memoirs of Billy Shears, John first met Billy in Paris on 16 September 1966, in a rendezvous that included Epstein, Neil Aspinall (the Beatles’ road manager) and Billy’s girlfriend, Maggie McGivern. This is where negotiations over Billy’s ongoing role in the band allegedly took place. The trip was stressful for John on many fronts, and the pressure of meeting Paul’s replacement was intensified when his luggage was stolen by what seemed to be overly zealous fans in Hamburg as he was leaving for Paris. This explains the lyric, “Friday night arrives without a suitcase” in the song “Lady Madonna”.

In The Memoirs of Billy Shears, Billy reveals that he took advantage of John’s frazzled state and assumed control of the band’s artistic direction. He also claimed Paul’s wealth and assets in exchange for giving up his own life as William Shepherd/Campbell. The trip to Paris was a real historic event, and many have noted that the real Paul McCartney would not have cheated on his long-time girlfriend, Jane Asher, and that the presence of Maggie McGivern with Paul in Paris suggests that something was seriously off.

Supposedly, it was also in Paris that Epstein found a mechanic to rebuild Paul’s custom Aston Martin DB6. Given the unique modifications Paul had made, the car was one of a kind, and Epstein was eager to see if it could be restored. This moment is referenced in the lyric, “Greeting a man from the motor trade” from “She’s Leaving Home” on the 1967 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

In Paris, Billy reflected that what mattered most to John was that he and Paul had started the Beatles and led them to superstardom. That was enough for him. Although Paul’s eerie prediction of his own death and replacement had once seemed far-fetched, it now made it easier for John to accept the situation. Neil Aspinall even joked to Billy in Paris, “How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people? You’re a rich man now!” This sentiment was later immortalised in the song “Baby you’re a Rich Man,” released as the B-side to “All You Need Is Love” in July 1967.

The transformation, or rather preservation, of the Beatles that John accepted in Paris was serendipitously foreshadowed by the release of the album Revolver only the month before. Paul had died and “revolved out”, while Billy “revolved in”. But this shift came at a great cost. The identity theft that occurred in September 1966 would be punishable today by a long and unforgiving prison sentence. Billy’s “sentence” was the death of his former life as William Shepherd/Campbell. Like Paul, he too had died, only to be reborn as Paul McCartney.

Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time
(“All You Need Is Love” | B-Side to “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” | 1967)

Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
(“Carry That Weight” | Abbey Road | 1968)

You say, “Goodbye” and I say, “Hello, hello, hello”
I don’t know why you say, “Goodbye”, I say, “Hello, hello, hello”
(“Hello, Goodbye” | Magical Mystery Tour | 1967)

Billy had to undergo a complete transformation in order to mirror Paul, which included learning to play guitar left-handed, despite being naturally right-handed, and mastering Paul’s signature with his left hand. Perfecting the latter skill was essential, as one of the first responsibilities Billy was tasked with was to sign cheques to key individuals to ensure their silence. Over time, Billy had to carefully navigate who among his associates and family could be trusted with the truth of his new identity. In The Memoirs of Billy Shears, he states:

Owing to the required confidentiality, I could not explain my role of Paul to friends and family until they could be cleared. Some of them never knew what happened to me. Relatives of Paul, however, already knew. It was common knowledge. To some, Paul had foretold his new life through another. I realised the one-sided nature of this clandestine deal. I had to assess each of my associates to decide who to let in.

Billy adds, “I learned to talk all about Paul’s life, creating Paul’s history.”

Over the years, this ‘invention’ has become noticeable, even to casual observers, as Paul has shared details in interviews that often conflicted with known history. Dementia? Or the fact that Billy is not Paul? But who can blame him? He’s done the best he could and, after all, as of this writing, Billy is 82 years old.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Paul McCartney in 2021
© Raphael Pour-Hashemi | CC BY 2.0

You’re a New and Better Man

The effort to make Billy resemble Paul began immediately, though it took time to perfect. Billy received injections from top specialists to reshape his slimmer face into Paul’s rounder features, alongside extensive plastic surgery, including altering his teeth. Every detail was meticulously altered. This included adding scars and blemishes to his face, and with one chin scar needing to be redone twice. None of this was beyond reach, for by 1966 the Beatles enjoyed the services of a trusted doctor, something one would expect for a group backed by Tavistock.

Doctor Robert
You’re a new and better man
He helps you to understand
He does everything he can
Doctor Robert
(“Doctor Robert” | Revolver | 1966)

Billy’s reconstructive surgery began in November 1966, prompting John to refer to him as ‘False Paul’, which he later shortened to Faul. In fact, in October 1967, in the Beatles’ monthly fanzine number 51 page 5, Paul is referred to as Faul. Still, there was little they could do to account for Billy being several inches taller than Paul; that is, other than manipulate the camera – and never tour again.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Billy appears noticeably taller than Paul

In late 1966 and 1967, many of the finer physical details were still missing, so facial hair was required to obscure the differences – and the scars. The rest of the band followed suit to avoid drawing attention to Billy, and by the time the Beatles were promoting the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – which was largely Billy’s project – the entire band had adopted new facial hairstyles, including moustaches. If the backmasking on the title track is to be believed, the new Beatles’ beards were fake. As John sings “Sgt. Pepper’s lonely”, the reversed vocal states, “It was a fake moustache”. We will examine the Beatles’ use of backmasking in more detail shortly.

Going forward, Billy’s primary treatment involved filler injections every six months, even during his time with Wings. However, he often tried to avoid the treatments, as they took time to settle and affected his singing voice. Unsurprisingly, Billy stayed out of the spotlight in the weeks after the injections, as his face would appear noticeably bloated.

Another physical challenge was Paul’s hair, which naturally parted on the left, while Billy’s parted on the right. The band, The Who, were close to the Beatles appear to have referenced the conspicuous change in Paul’s hairstyle in one of their most iconic songs:

The parting on the left
Is now the parting on the right
(“Won’t Get Fooled Again” | Who’s Next | 1971)

Despite these cosmetic challenges, the task of learning to play guitar left-handed was even more daunting than the physical alterations. To this day, the fingering guitar playing styles between old Paul and new Billy are cited as being demonstrably different. Further, in The Memoirs of Billy Shears, Billy notes that he was usually aware of when he was being filmed, and thus was sure to be seen to be playing left-handed in those instances. However, there were moments when he was unaware of the cameras, such as at the 50-minute mark in The Beatles Anthology 7: June ‘67 to July ‘68. In this footage he is seen playing right-handed, but upon realising he is being filmed, he switches to playing left-handed.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Paul in India playing right-handed, then left-handed for the camera

There are numerous instances of Billy using his right hand for everyday tasks typically performed with one’s dominant hand. One prominent example is the Abbey Road album cover, where Billy is seen holding a cigarette in his right hand. The cover, nearly as iconic as that of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, also shows Billy walking barefoot – unlike the other Beatles – and features a white Volkswagen with the registration plate LMW 28IF in the background, which many enthusiasts have interpreted as meaning Paul would have been 28 if he had lived to record Abbey Road, and LMW stood for ‘Linda McCartney Widowed’. On YouTube there are countless other examples showcasing Billy using his right hand as his dominant preference.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

The cigarette Billy holds in his right hand is known as a coffin nail

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Billy playing right-handed on the cover of Disco 45 magazine in December 1967

A captivating photo of Billy sitting in Paul’s reconstructed Aston Martin in 1968, allegedly penning “The Two of Us”, carries layers of irony and strategy. It chillingly echoes the song’s themes of loss from the alleged crash that Paul and his companion had had in this very car. What’s especially intriguing is Billy’s awkward left-handed grip on the guitar and his need to watch his chord changes.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Billy in his Aston Martin – post-crash, writing “The Two Of Us”
© Linda Eastman

Another notable physical difference is in the earlobes: they are either both detached, hanging freely like Billy’s, or attached to the head, like Paul’s. This difference suggests the presence of two distinct individuals. The list of physical or stylistic discrepancies goes on, including Paul’s obsession with wearing only black socks, while Billy wore bright multi-coloured socks.

 

Nothing is Real

John Lennon is quoted in a 1975 interview with Tom Snyder on the US Tomorrow show, saying that, with respect to the Beatles’ catalogue, “all our messages were subliminal”. The comment is interesting on many fronts, for one of the first projects Billy worked on as the newly recruited Beatle was the film and soundtrack for Magical Mystery Tour, which began filming on 11 September 1967, the one-year anniversary of Paul’s alleged death. Billy was no stranger to disguises and performed incognito while singing “Death Cab for Cutie”, a song with a theme reminiscent of “A Day in the Life”.

When he saw Cutie, it gave him a thrill
Don’t you know, baby, curves can kill?
Slippin’, slidin’ down a-Highway 31, mmm
(Baby, don’t do it)
The traffic lights changed from green to red
They tried to stop but they both wound up dead
(“Death Cab for Cutie”)

Is the reference to “Highway 31” a nod to where Paul’s crash occurred? The A31 is a busy road in southern England that runs for 36 miles from Guildford in Surrey, southwest towards the coast. Is this where the crash occurred? Alternatively, the B31 is a postcode in Birmingham, where the pesky investigator Sam Wells was from.

According to The Memoirs of Billy Shears, another possible location for the crash is provided in the film, Magical Mystery Tour, when Billy refers to the bus travelling “10 miles North on the old Dewsbury Road”, a road which exists both in North London and south of Leeds.

We continue with Billy’s disguised performance while singing “Death Cab for Cutie”:

When he saw Cutie, it gave him a thrill
Don’t you know, baby, curves can kill?
Slippin’, slidin’ down a-Highway 31, mmm
(Baby, don’t do it)
The traffic lights changed from green to red
They tried to stop but they both wound up dead
(Death cab for Cutie)
(“Deathcab for Cutie” composed by Vivian Stanshall (Billy) and Neil Innes | Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band in the film Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

“Magical Mystery Tour” also depicts a scene where John, Paul and Ringo are wearing white suits and red carnations, while Paul is sporting a black carnation.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Paul with a black carnation in Magical Mystery Tour

Perhaps the most disturbing image in the film is the portrayal of the ‘Magical Mystical Boy’, who looks a lot like someone who has lost their face in an accident.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Was Paul’s morgue photo the inspiration for the ‘Magical Mystical Boy’?

We Hope You Will Enjoy the Show

However, to fully appreciate the barrage of symbolism and cryptic lyrics that followed Paul’s alleged death in 1966, we must take a closer look at the songs and symbolism of their remarkable album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). The album opens with a bold proclamation: we are no longer listening to the Beatles, but to the ‘Lonely Hearts Club Band’. Billy’s introduction to the world couldn’t have been more theatrical, as John announces his arrival on the opening track:

So let me introduce to you
The one and only Billy Shears
And Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
(“Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” | Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band | 1967)

The album concludes with what is arguably its finest and most poignant moment, and one that is suggestive of Paul’s death in a car crash:

I read the news today, oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well, I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph

He blew his mind out in a car
He didn’t notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They’d seen his face before
Nobody was really sure if he was from the House of Lords
I’d love to turn you on
(“A Day in the Life” | Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band | 1967)

Clearly, the lyrics are quite suggestive. In The Memoirs of Billy Shears, Billy suggests that the line “Well, I just had to laugh. I saw the photograph”, reflects John’s scepticism about Paul’s death, as prophesied in Paul’s dreams and alluded to in Epstein’s telegram, until he was presented with the proof when Epstein showed him the photograph of Paul in the morgue.

Officially, the lyrics, “He blew his mind out in a car. He didn’t notice that the lights had changed. A crowd of people stood and stared. They’d seen his face before. Nobody was really sure if he was from the House of Lords”, are a reference to Tara Browne, an Irish socialite and heir to the Guinness fortune. A close friend of the Beatles, Browne tragically died in a car crash in December 1966, and his father was indeed a member of the House of Lords. Interestingly, if you listen closely to the phrase “if he was from the House of Lords,” you can hear the word “Paul” instead of “Lords”, highlighting how the power of suggestion, through written song lyrics, can influence perception.

There were also rumours that Paul and Tara Browne were lovers, and that Paul was in the car with him at the time of his fatal crash. Researcher Redwel Trabant discusses an interesting account in his book, The Sgt Pepper Code, where Paul and Tara were involved in a motorcycle crash outside Liverpool in December 1965. According to the story, Paul was thrown over the handlebars, later claiming he was distracted by a full moon. However, records show there was no full moon that night. Paul later said this incident led him to grow a moustache, which the rest of the band later adopted. Curiously, the band members were only seen with moustaches in late 1966 and early 1967, adding another layer of scepticism to Paul’s account of the motorbike accident.

“A Day in the Life” contains additional clues, including the sound of a car crash. Additionally, between the first and second sections, when Paul sings, “Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head”, the Beatles’ road manager, Mal Evans, can be heard counting up to 24 (1…2…3…4, etc.). Paul was 24 years old at the time of his alleged crash, adding yet another intriguing clue. Moreover, in the final line of “Strawberry Fields Forever”, which was originally intended to be on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, we can hear “I buried Paul”, although the phrase is not listed in the official lyrics.

However, it is the cover design of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band that has captivated the attention of ‘Paul is Dead’ enthusiasts, and perhaps rightfully so. The iconic image has sparked endless speculation and countless interpretations. While an entire thesis could be written about its symbolism, I will highlight just a few of the most notable references.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Is this music’s most iconic album cover?

On the right, we see a bloodied racing glove positioned next to a dead doll. In the upper centre, a hand is positioned over Paul’s head; this is said to represent a symbol of prayer for the dead. According to The Memoirs of Billy Shears, the lower middle features red flowers that spell out BEATLES, with an ‘O’ conspicuously placed at the end, and the letters intentionally arranged in a disjointed fashion to say, ‘BE AT LESO’. Postcards discovered in the bag of the woman who accompanied Paul on his fateful journey suggested she was on her way to Leso, a street in Mesocco, Switzerland, according to The Memoirs of Billy Shears. However, the prevailing conspiracy theory holds that Leso refers to a Greek island of the same name, where Paul is believed to be buried. It took several days for authorities to trace her family, a process referred to as “chasing paper” in the song, “The Two of Us”.

The numerous floral arrangements on the cover suggest that the entire image represents a funeral scene. The YouTube channel “Justice for James Paul McCartney” points out one of the hidden messages that spells out “HEAR LIES PAUL”, adding to the intrigue surrounding the album’s many rich elements of symbolism.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

© Justice for James Paul McCartney

Additionally, the back cover depicts Paul with his back turned to the audience and noticeably taller than the other Beatles, despite his having been roughly the same height as them before.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

The album’s gatefold picture included images of the band in uniform, with Billy wearing an OPD. patch that is interpreted as meaning “Officially Pronounced Dead”. In the same image, George appears to be pointing to the lyric “Wednesday morning at five o’clock as the day begins”, the time of Paul’s alleged death.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Billy with the OPD patch – “Officially Pronounced Dead”
© Justice for James Paul McCartney

There has also been much discussion about the figures that were removed from the album cover, including a controversial image of Hitler, whom John was fascinated with. Did EMI insist on removing the image of Hitler due to concerns that it would expose too much of the Tavistock Institute’s secret leanings? However, the image of Aleister Crowley remained, a nod to the occult and the apparent dark influences behind the Beatles. In fact, the lyrics, “It was twenty years ago today…” are said to allude to the anniversary of Crowley’s death in 1947.

 

Get Back

We will now shift our focus from the symbolism of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover to the secretive technique of backmasking, which we briefly touched upon earlier. Backmasking involves encoding messages in recordings that can only be heard when the record is played backward. Embraced by George Martin and the Beatles, backmasking reveals further clues that suggest that Paul had died in 1966. Here are a few examples:

  • “I’m so Tired” from the White Album  (1968) contains the backmasking recording “Paul’s dead man. Miss him. Miss him”.
  • “Revolution #9” from the White Album (1968) contains the backmasking recording of “My fingers are broken and so is my hair…maybe even dead”. And in the chatter, we can hear: “In my broken chair, my wings are broken and so is my hair”. “Get me out, get me out” which can be heard during the sound of a car crash, as well as “Turn me on dead man, turn me on dead man”. Additionally, we can hear, “Hit a pole.” “Get him to see a surgeon”. “He went to a dentist instead”. “They gave him a pair of teeth that weren’t any good at all”.
  • “I am the Walrus” from the album Magical Mystery Tour (1967) contains the backspacing recording; “Ha, ha, Paul is dead!”, while the forward singing says “Oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumper”.
  • “I am the Walrus”, in the background chatter you can hear, “New man takes the fortune”.
  • “Oh! Darling” from the album Abbey Road (1969) contains the backmasking recording “In me he lives” while Billy sings “Oh Darling please believe me”.
  • “Don’t Pass Me By” from the White Album (1968) contains the backmasking recording “You were in a car crash and you lost your hair”.
  • “Let it Be” from the album Let it Be (1970) contains the backmasking recording of “He’s dead. He’s dead. He’s dead. He’s dead”.
  • “Tomorrow Never Knows” from Revolver (1966) contains the backmasking recording “I’m only sleeping”, possibly the earliest of the Beatles’ backmasking recordings.
  • On “Oh! Darling” from the album Abbey Road, when Billy sings “Oh Darling please believe me”, the backmasking recording reveals “In me he lives”.
  • “Getting Better” from the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) contains the backmasking recording “After all, Paul is dead. He lost his hairs, head”, while the forward vocals sing, “I admit it’s getting better all the time, a little better all the time”.
  • “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, at the end of the forward-playing song, just after the word “Hearts,” you can hear the phrase “Paul is dead”, and right after “club,” the words “Really dead”.

Again, the art of backmasking would surely have been introduced to the Beatles by George Martin, someone who never seemed to get the credit he was due. Clearly, it appears that he was complicit in the subliminal messages being transmitted – as Lennon later confessed to. The question remains, just how closely tied to the Tavistock Institute was he?

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

George Martin and the Beatles

Tomorrow Never Knows

In 1965 Paul McCartney was living in London with his girlfriend, the actress Jane Asher, at her parents’ home at 57 Wimpole Street. That year, Paul allegedly began having disturbing nightmares about his imminent death. Jane’s parents, Richard and Margaret Asher, were close to George Martin, the Beatles’ producer who, with his significant contributions to songwriting and instrumentation, was often considered the ‘fifth Beatle’.

Richard Asher, an accomplished hypnotist with synergies with Tavistock, given his work with mental illness, arranged for Paul McCartney to listen to Nat King Cole’s cover of “Answer Me, My Love” while under hypnosis. During these experimental sessions in May 1965, Paul woke up with the melody for the song “Yesterday” firmly in his head. He initially worried that the tune might have been borrowed from some other song that he had unconsciously remembered, but he was relieved to find that it was in fact an original composition. At first, to remember the melody, Paul playfully used the whimsical lyrics:

“Scrambled eggs, Oh my baby, how I love your legs.
Not as much as I love scrambled eggs. Oh, we should eat some scrambled eggs.”

The reference to eggs is particularly intriguing. Alleged medical reports indicate that Paul, unlike Billy, suffered from a severe case of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) brought on in 1964 by poisoning from eating badly prepared scrambled eggs. This condition caused such severe and uncontrollable bowel movements that Paul was reportedly required to wear adult diapers, which some believe can be seen in the 1965 film, Help!. An alleged message from his doctor states the following:

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Might Paul’s IBS have been a factor in the Beatles’ need to audition a stand-in for a concert as early as 1965? According to The Memoirs of Billy Shears, the lyrics of “Yesterday” – “Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be. There’s a shadow hanging over me” – are a reference to Paul’s suffering from acute IBS.

As a postscript to Paul’s time living with the Ashers, Richard Asher shocked his family and friends when, in 1969, he committed suicide. Was he ‘suicided’? Did he know too much? Had he reacted badly after Billy broke up with his daughter around this time? Did he know about the ‘fake Paul’?

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Richard Asher (3 April 1912 – 25 April 1969)
CC BY-SA 3.0

From this point onwards Paul’s music took on a markedly serious tone. The lyrics of “Yesterday”, far from being a reflection on his relationship with Jane Asher, instead expressed his own existential anxiety and foreboding about the future.

The now-legendary lyrics of the song, which has been covered and performed more than any other in history, quickly emerged, leaving the “scrambled eggs” lyric as a footnote in Beatles folklore. However, this early use of hypnosis raises a troubling question: could it have foreshadowed MKUltra, the notorious Tavistock/CIA-British Intelligence programme, infamous for its role in crafting the 1960s counterculture through extensive drug experimentation?

Electric and Musical Industries, or EMI, the powerhouse behind the Beatles’ meteoric rise, boasts a rich and intriguing history. Established in 1931, the British company initially focused on radar equipment and guided missiles before diversifying into broadcasting and recording technology. In the 1950s the head of EMI Records, Oscar Preuss, mentored his successor, George Martin, who happened to have studied under the same oboe teacher as Jane Asher’s mother. According to legend, Brian Epstein encouraged Martin to collaborate with the Beatles, who were then performing in Hamburg. Although some accounts suggest that it was Martin’s superior who made the decision, it was Martin who ultimately transformed the Beatles into global icons, both by shaping their music and by skilfully managing their early performances.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Inspecting the Beatles’ backmasking equipment in Abbey Road Studio Two
© Andrew Gough

Their Satanic Majesties Request

Billy confirms that the Beatles signed up to counterculture dissemination in The Memoirs of Billy Shears when he provides a series of illuminating insights:

“Over dinner George Martin gave the Beatles their contract with EMI. He told them that the special connections would ensure their unparalleled success, as long as the group remained useful in furthering certain worldwide agendas. Among those agendas, the band would be used to overthrow Christianity in preparation for ‘more meaningful spirituality’ in a one-world government’s one-world religion… However astonishing it is that Paul was replaced, the bigger story is that the substitution occurred as part of Tavistock’s worldwide mind-control operation that is still succeeding today with ‘Committee of 300’ resources”.

Billy continues:

“Replacing the most adored celebrity anywhere was only possible by the powerful central organisation that directed national governments to stay out of the way while the largest newspapers, television channels and radio stations, along with the most influential players in the entertainment industry, all perpetuated the McCartney myth.”

Billy concludes:

To fully comprehend Paul’s replacement is to know that we are still being manipulated by government and legacy media under the direction of the worldwide cabal.

Tavistock was relentless in its efforts to ensure the success of the counterculture-promoting, anti-Christian Beatles. In one striking example, a flying ballet sketch was staged at the London Palladium, where the band was hoisted through the air before what appeared to be thousands of adoring fans. In truth, the performance took place in isolation, yet headlines blared, “Police hold back 1,000 squealing teenagers.”

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

The Beatles perform at a special midnight revue show at the London Palladium, entitled The Night Of A Hundred Stars
© Kent Gavin

Similarly, when the Beatles arrived at Kennedy Airport in New York, they were greeted by throngs of screaming teenagers, bussed in from the Bronx and paid to stage the hysteria. This fabricated frenzy culminated in their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, which 75 million Americans watched, solidifying the launch of Beatlemania. It becomes clear why the powers behind the scenes would not allow this commercial and cultural juggernaut to end with Paul’s death. Tavistock were not just borrowing from, but were possibly the architects of, the cabalistic strategy to “present fiction as fact, and fact as fiction”, a tactic that is undeniably still at play in today’s world.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Did the Beatles arrive in the USA to a largely fabricated Tavistock-managed audience?

Clearly, evidence indicates that Tavistock managed to shape the Beatles in their own image. The once-cherished band began to promote anti-Christian values and endorse hard-drug use. Despite their elevated status and formidable support, numerous Beatles songs suspected of alluding to drug use were banned. Notably, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was rejected by the BBC due to its perceived reference to LSD.

Suddenly someone is there at the turnstile
The girl with the kaleidoscope eyes

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
(“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” | Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band | 1967)

Later that year, at the Monterey Pop Festival in the United States, special LSD known as ‘Monterey Purple’ was provided to the droves of concert goers for free. Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger were on the Board of Directors.

Years later John still grappled with his past, all while living under the watchful eye of his partner (some even called her his minder), Yoko Ono, who Tony Cox, Yoko’s first husband, said had previously attempted suicide and had been placed in a mental institution. In a 1980 Playboy interview, shortly before his assassination, John boldly stated, “We must always remember to thank the CIA and Army for LSD. That’s what people forget.” This comment alluded to the CIA’s use of LSD as part of the infamous MKUltra program, designed to create mind-controlled individuals, so-called ‘Manchurian candidates’. The Tavistock Institute was thought to be part of this plan. Could Lennon have been a victim of their agenda?

The Beatles were not the only band influenced by Tavistock. The Rolling Stones also appeared to be under Satanic influences. Their iconic album title, Their Satanic Majesties Request, and songs like “Sympathy for the Devil” reference Satanic themes and suggest a pact with darker forces.

Please allow me to introduce myself
I’m a man of wealth and taste
I’ve been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man’s soul and faith
And I was ’round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate
Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name
(“Sympathy for the Devil” | Beggars Banquet | 1968)

The Stones also appear to have expressed their disapproval over Billy as Paul’s replacement, when the shock of the whole affair was still fresh.

Something happened to me yesterday
Something I can’t speak of right away…
He don’t know if it’s right or wrong
Maybe he should tell someone

He’s not sure just what it was
Or if it’s against the law
(“Something Happened To Me Yesterday” | Between the Buttons | 1967)

At the end of the day the Rolling Stones and the Beatles were two sides of the same coin – both puppets of EMI and Tavistock – only the Beatles were portrayed as the good guys and the Rolling Stones as the villains. In The Memoirs of Billy Shears Billy adds:

It played perfectly into the hands of the secret ‘Committee of 300’. As the snitch said, “With the Beatles in their right hand…and the Stones in their left, they would transform the whole world”.

Interestingly, on the day rumours circulated about Paul McCartney’s death in a car crash, the Rolling Stones performed “Paint It Black” on the Ed Sullivan Show in the United States. The Rolling Stones, who were close friends with the Beatles, especially John and Paul, were aware of Paul’s preoccupations with death and the notion of being replaced. Curiously, during the same month that Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released, the Rolling Stones unveiled their album, Flowers, which not only featured a floral cover that echoed the funeral imagery of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, but also included “Ruby Tuesday,” a song linked to the day John supposedly learned of Paul’s alleged death. It seems the Rolling Stones were subtly commenting on these significant events in their own unique way.

Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
(“Ruby Tuesday” | Flowers by the Rolling Stones | 1967)

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

The Rolling Stones’ 1967 album Flowers

The Rolling Stones were also resentful of Billy taking over Paul’s fortune and girlfriend, Jane Asher. On one occasion Mick Jagger was in Abbey Road studios and told Billy that he was featured in his new song.

My obsessions are your possessions. Every piece that I can get

(“My Obsession” | Between The Buttons | 1967)

The Beatles also appeared to have been close to the UK’s highest profile paedophile and alleged satanist, Jimmy Savile. Savile was a notorious figure, whose public persona as a charming television presenter masked a deeply troubling reality, as he engaged in systematic abuse of vulnerable individuals. His exploitation of power and influence left a lasting scar on countless lives, revealing the dark underbelly of celebrity culture – and Satanic influences.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Jimmy Savile with the Beatles
© London Features International

The dawn of modern religious Satanism can be traced to a seismic moment in 1966, when Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan in the heart of San Francisco. With this audacious move, LaVey unleashed a provocative new worldview that would shake the foundations of traditional religion. His radical ideas found a powerful voice in The Satanic Bible (1969), a manifesto that would go on to ignite controversy and challenge societal norms, cementing LaVey’s place as one of the most controversial figures in modern religious thought. It was all happening in 1966. Even the construction of the ‘Twin Towers’ that were later destroyed in the 9/11 ‘attacks’ commenced in 1966. Remarkably, Satanism seems to have been a thread linking these seemingly unrelated events, marking 1966 as a pivotal moment in both their cultural histories.

It is not surprising that the Beatles and the Rolling Stones had the same Satanic sources in common. Still, it is unclear if Kenneth Anger, a pioneering underground filmmaker known for his Satanic, occult-themed and avant-garde works, such as the film, Lucifer Rising, had direct contact with the Beatles. It would appear he did. What we know for certain is that Anger was an ardent follower of Aleister Crowley, who was featured on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. In fact, many regarded Anger as Crowley’s successor!

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

The filmmaker and Satanist, Kenneth Anger
© Pål Hansen / The Observer

Anger had close ties to Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, who were also part of the same social and artistic milieu as the Beatles. Anger worked with Jagger on various projects, including commissioning Jagger to provide a score for his controversial film, Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969). Anger was also closely connected to Marianne Faithfull and Anita Pallenberg, both of whom had relationships with members of the Rolling Stones and were influential in the rock-and-roll and counterculture scenes, and frequently hung out with the Beatles. It was through Marianne Faithfull’s husband, John Dunbar, that Paul met the art dealer, Robert Fraser, who would introduce Paul and the Beatles to the world of London avant-garde.

Vernon Mosher was a fascinating figure, who played a pivotal role in preparing the Beatles for their eventual meeting with Anger and the Satanic indoctrination that followed. It is believed that Anger met the Beatles on the set of the film Help!. What captivated the band most was Mosher’s assertion that Paul’s recurring dreams were a clear sign that he was ‘the one’ destined for Satanic sacrifice.

Paul’s dreams reportedly began in January 1965. During a conversation with Mosher, John and Paul were asked when they had made a contract with Satan. Paul denied ever having done so, but John admitted, “It was around 15 months before the dreams began.” Later, it was revealed that John and Paul had performed a Satanic ritual that bound the band to dark forces while in Stockholm on 24 October 1963. Billy recounts the chilling events of that infamous event.

Satanism and Luciferianism joined the Beatles at the Karlaplansstudion, a Stockholm, Sweden, studio. A worker there discussed Satanism with John and Paul, including mysticism, channelling energy, and networks. It had come up before, but less convincingly. As far as John recalled, that was a turning point.

Billy continues:

The man told John and Paul that their show would not be a worldwide sensation until they ceremonially enacted the sacrifice and prayed to Lucifer for his influence over the whole world. He told them that Lucifer is the god of this world and that his power surpasses all others. With this idea in mind, that night, 24 October 1963, John and Paul said words, most likely without taking them serious enough, promising that they would sacrifice to quench Lucifer’s appetite – or something along that foolish line. I heard John discussing it with Vernon E Mosher. Attributing the imminent death to the Oath, Paul cries, “I said something wrong” (“Yesterday”)

Mosher insisted that Paul’s death was not only imminent but necessary for fulfilling the pact that Paul and John had made. According to Billy, Mosher even predicted the approximate timing of Paul’s death. Further, Billy discusses the network of Satanism and how, via EMI, the Beatles leveraged it:

I want you to understand that Satanism, aside from its spiritual effect or religious significance, is a political network used by this world’s most eminent social engineers. I do not endorse their rites, but always credit the network in connection with those who made the Beatles the immortal band that it became. At the top of the world’s governing body, which oversees the banks, news media, and most public opinions, ambitious organisations work to use their all-encompassing generative dominance to create a New World Order.

Billy adds:

The Beatles and the Stones were all studying religiously with Satanist Kenneth Anger and others since well before I became Paul. Both bands had entered into Satanic compacts and made pledges. Paul and John were told that they would be given music and other support to usher in the Age of Aquarius. They were placed at the top of the musical pyramid, making them the world’s most influential writing team. The Beatles, we were told, would endure forever. John later acknowledged, “Changing the lifestyle and appearance of youth throughout the world didn’t just happen. We set out to do it. We knew what we were doing”.

Bohemian Grove is a private, all-male gathering held annually in Northern California, where some of the world’s most influential figures from politics, business and media meet for secretive rituals and discussions. The event is infamous for its exclusivity, secrecy and its alleged involvement in shaping global policies. Films by whistle-blowers also reveal that it is highly Satanic. Not surprisingly, Billy claims he was invited to Bohemian Grove in the 1970s, but he never accepted the offer because the invitation was not extended to his wife, Linda Eastman. Women are not allowed to enter Bohemian Grove. Still, the fact that Billy was invited is telling. Did he attend? We may never know.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Bohemian Grove

It appears that Paul’s accidental death was not acceptable to the Satanic code, who needed a sacrifice, not an accident, to seal the agreement, and hence many believe this is why Lennon was assassinated on 8 December 1980, outside his New York City apartment, by Mark David Chapman. A fan and self-proclaimed Satanist, Chapman shot Lennon multiple times after asking for an autograph earlier that day. The murder shocked the world, marking a tragic end to the life of the former Beatle.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Mark David Chapman, murderer and Satanist

Oddly, Lennon was shot outside his building, the Dakota; the same building where Roman Polanski’s Satanic-themed film, Rosemary’s Baby, was filmed in the same month (September) in 1967 that Paul allegedly died in a car crash. The film starred Mia Farrow, who curiously travelled to India with Lennon around this time. The song “Sexy Sadie”, written by Lennon, is said to have been originally entitled “Maharishi”, and was a protest about the Beatles’ spiritual guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who allegedly made sexual advances towards Farrow while she was in India. In a curious twist of fate, or perhaps intentional design, the storyline of Rosemary’s Baby revolves around Satanic forces demanding the sacrifice of Rosemary’s baby in exchange for her husband’s success in Hollywood, reminiscent of the pact that the Beatles reportedly made in Stockholm.

Further, Geoffrey Giuliano claims in his book Lennon in America that John became visibly agitated at a party in California in 1973, smashed mirrors and threw televisions around while shouting that Polanski “was to blame”, thus suggesting that the two were known to each other. As fate would have it, John met Yoko Ono years earlier, at an art gallery in London where Yoko was having a private showing before the public opening. Roman Polanski and his wife Sharon Tate are known to have also attended the exhibition.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

The Dakota – the Lennons’ residence and site of the Satanic-themed film, Rosemary’s Baby
© Ajay Suresh | CC BY 2.0

Chapman later claimed that Satan demanded John’s death, stating he would often “strip naked, play Beatles records and pray to Satan for strength”. But he wasn’t the only murderer connected to both Satan and the Beatles; the infamous Charles Manson also drew inspiration from their music. Manson built his cult around Anger’s doctrine, and rumours swirled that the Beatles had stayed at Sharon Tate’s California home before the tragic murders. In 1967 Manson visited a Beach Boys recording session that Billy also attended, and later that year he visited Tate’s house through a friend of the Beach Boys, the son of the US superstar singer and actress, Doris Day. John hinted that he and George had experimented with LSD there; an unsettling coincidence, to say the least.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

John and Ringo looking like they shared a secret

Manson was obsessed with the Beatles, particularly their song “Helter Skelter” from the 1968 White Album. A lyric from their 1969 song “You Never Give Me Your Money” (from Abbey Road) was found scrawled on a door at Spahn Ranch, the Manson family’s headquarters from 1967 to 1968: “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven / All good children go to Heaven,” alongside the words “Helter Skelter.” Many speculate that the Manson murders are intertwined with Beatles symbolism and a deeper connection to Satanism.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Beatles lyrics written on the door of Charles Manson’s occult centre

Years later, Harrison claimed that Lennon had called him a week before his assassination, frantically confessing that he could no longer hide the truth and intended to go public with the deception about Paul. Tragically, John Lennon was killed before he could act. In an eerie parallel almost 20 years later, Harrison faced a near-fatal attack in 1999 when an intruder, Michael Abram, broke into his home in Henley-on-Thames, England, and stabbed him multiple times in the chest. Harrison later revealed that he had considered exposing the secret of Paul’s replacement, but had only confided that in one person: Paul McCartney (Billy). George is also on record as saying, “You can be standing right in front of the truth and not necessarily see it, and people only get it when they’re ready to get it.” Even more curious are George’s comments at a post-Beatles awards ceremony when he says, “We all loved Paul very much” as though he was speaking about his beloved friend and band member in the past tense, when the world understood he was very much alive.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

The 1999 newspapers feature of George Harrison’s near-death attack

A striking footnote to the two assassination attempts – one successful and the other not – lies in Billy’s reaction to Lennon’s death, which was captured on video and is still available on YouTube. In the footage, Billy appears unnervingly detached, chewing gum as he responds to reporters with no emotion, saying simply, “Yeah, it’s a drag, isn’t it?” He later claimed to have been in shock, yet many found his response cold and indifferent, especially considering the deep bond he had shared with Lennon over the years. While everyone processes loss differently, Billy’s reaction stands out as one of the most jarring moments of the tragedy.

Unsurprisingly, The Memoirs of Billy Shears and the release of the remastered Beatles catalogue were strategically arranged for 09.09.09 – a date that represents the inverse of 666 – the Satanic mark of the Beast. The Beatles appeared to have pledged allegiance to Tavistock, the British cabal that is now synonymous with the Illuminati, from the earliest of days. The influence of Tavistock on the Beatles’ evolution is apparent in several ways. Early album covers and promotional materials featured symbolism that hints at this connection, though its significance is more recognisable today than it was in the 1960s. For instance, their early works include controversial imagery such as butchered babies, one eye covered, and hand signs representing ‘666’ – a Satanic symbol that is often portrayed in today’s entertainment world. When the Beatles signed with EMI, they were aware that their involvement was part of a broader psychological strategy, including publicly renouncing their Christian beliefs and promoting drug use, both tactics that Tavistock believed would help accelerate the emergence of a New World Order. The lyrics to the 1968 song “Revolution 1” reflect this goal and sound as relevant today as they did then?

You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it’s evolution
Well, you know
We all wanna change the world…
You say you’ll change the constitution.
(“Revolution 1” | The White Album | 1968)

Evidence of Tavistock’s influence on the Beatles can be seen in the original cover of their 1966 album Yesterday and Today, often referred to as the ‘butcher cover’. This controversial artwork featured the band dressed in white smocks, holding dismembered baby dolls and pieces of raw meat. Created specifically for the US market, the album was a compilation of previously released songs by Capitol Records, which frequently reconfigured the Beatles’ UK albums to better cater to American audiences. While the image was meant to be a surreal, avant-garde statement, it sparked an immediate backlash and has since been associated with unsettling themes such as child trafficking and adrenochrome harvesting.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

The Beatles’ “Butcher Cover”, 1966

Similarly, in promotional photos for Yellow Submarine we see further signs of the Beatles’ familiarity with what we now recognise as Illuminati symbolism. Here, Paul signals the number ‘6’ with 3 fingers (666), while John shows the sign of the devil’s horn.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Yellow Submarine promotion, 1969

Another form of Illuminati symbolism is the practice of covering one eye, and this is subtly depicted on the Beatles’ 1963 album, With the Beatles. Today, this gesture is widely recognised as a sign that the individual has, either willingly or forcibly, entered a pact with the Illuminati and is subject to some form of mind control, such as MKUltra. The image represents the ‘all-seeing eye’, a powerful symbol associated with Luciferian doctrines, and Satanism.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

One-eye symbolism, 1963

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

A one-eyed John on the cover of rave magazine , 1965

The Beatles’ use of ‘one-eye’ symbolism looms larger than ever in today’s musical landscape, revealing the pervasive influence of the occult that is increasingly recognised and understood. This unsettling imagery serves as a stark reminder of the darker forces at play, captivating audiences while shrouded in mystery and intrigue.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Today’s ‘one-eye’ symbolism looms larger than ever before

The Let It Be album cover is also of interest, as it is just one of many photos that show the band dressed in a similar fashion, except for Paul, who is depicted in blood red. Billy draws our attention to the image in The Memoirs of Billy Shears:

Representing Paul’s head being smashed, the right side of my face is lost in a shadow on the Let it Be cover, just as the other half of Paul’s face is shadowed on their first album… My Let it Be picture is given a blood-red background, making it stand out from the others in white.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Paul portrayed one-eyed and with a blood-red background

Billy continues to showcase Illuminati symbolism to this day. For example, during his appearance on the UK’s popular Jonathan Ross Show, he unmistakably made the Illuminati gesture as he sat down for his interview, reinforcing his connection to these secretive themes.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Billy flashing Illuminati symbolism on the Jonathan Ross Show

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Billy, with the 3-finger 666 symbol today
© Noam Galai / WireImage

As a side note, Billy highlights in The Memoirs of Billy Shears that echoes of the Tavistock agenda can be found in John’s most cherished solo work, the 1971 song “Imagine”. Beloved by multiple generations, the song takes on new meaning with our understanding of the Beatles’ Monarch Programming, a controversial theory suggesting that some individuals, often subjected to severe trauma, are manipulated and controlled through dissociative identity disorder to serve as mind-controlled operatives for various agendas. Billy suggests that with this perspective, one might find resonances with Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum’s assertion that “you will own nothing and be happy”.

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
(“Imagine” | Imagine | 1971)

At this post-Beatle juncture, John’s relationship with Paul appears to have soured, and there is no better example of this than the song, “How Do You Sleep?”, also from the Lennon’s solo album Imagine:

So Sgt Pepper took you by surprise
You better see right through that mother’s eyes
Those freaks was right when they said you was dead
The one mistake you made was in your head
How do you sleep?
How do you sleep at night?
You live with straights who tell you, you was king
Jump when your momma tell you anything
The only thing you done was yesterday
And since you’ve gone you’re just another day
(“How Do You Sleep” | Imagine | 1972)

Just what was Lennon so upset about? He and Paul had had an idyllic relationship and had been best friends since puberty. Did he resent Billy’s takeover of the band? Was he upset that Billy broke their agreement that he would stop using Paul’s identity once the Beatles dissolved?

Billy provides his take on the matter in The Memoirs of Billy Shears:

Until now, I have been silent about much of this. That does not mean he did not hurt me. He did. I realise that the Beatles would have stopped entirely before Sgt Pepper’s if I had not come along and given the band my all. I deserved more respect than I ever received from any of them.

 

Tomorrow Never Knows

George is on record as saying, “we were all quite happy…until 1966…when this experience happened…after that everything seemed like hard work”. Hmm. Just what was George alluding to? George was very close to Paul, and even had Paul stand as his best man in his 1966 wedding to Pattie Boyd.

George alludes to missing Paul, and how the presence of a substitute Paul (Billy) ultimately left him cold, in several songs:

We were talking
About the love that’s gone so cold and the people
Who gain the world and lose their soul
They don’t know
They can’t see, are you one of them
(“Within You Without You” | Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band | 1967)

The Love that’s there sleeping
(“While my guitar gently weeps” | The White Album | 1968)

Jane Asher, Paul’s long-term girlfriend, returned from a theatre tour in the US to find that Paul had become Billy. Although shocking, it wasn’t entirely surprising, as she had been aware of Paul’s unsettling dreams. Their relationship continued, but Jane eventually ended it in the summer of 1968 after discovering Paul in bed with Francie Schwartz, an American scriptwriter. Schwartz later wrote about her affair with Paul in her book Body Count, where she intriguingly refers to a man named ‘Billy’ in the chapter on their relationship.

Billy and Linda Eastman shared a long and seemingly happy marriage until Linda’s death from cancer in 1998. Linda, a celebrated photographer of the 1960s rock scene, once openly expressed that she preferred John over Paul. Despite this, she married Billy at a time when he was considered the world’s most eligible bachelor. Their marriage appeared idyllic, and Linda became a full-time member of Paul’s new band, Wings. However, rumours persisted that Linda had blackmailed Billy into marriage with compromising photos she had taken, evidence that could supposedly prove Paul and Billy were not the same person.

After Linda’s passing, Billy remarried in 2002 to Heather Mills. By 2008, their marriage had ended in a highly publicised divorce, during which Heather made the startling claim that she possessed the truth about Billy’s identity. She insinuated that if anything happened to her, a box containing incriminating evidence would be made public. Numerous videos of Heather circulate online, where she passionately – almost frantically – speaks about her knowledge of Billy’s secret, hinting at the explosive information she holds. She states:

You know why I left you. Protect me and I will say nothing. Something so awful happened. Someone I loved for a long time I found out had betrayed me immensely. And I don’t mean infidelity or anything like that. Beyond belief. I have to protect myself. People don’t want to know what the truth is because they could never ever handle it. They would be too devastated.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Heather and Paul © The Irish Mirror

Others in the music industry have also hinted at the belief that Paul and Billy are two different people. Graham Nash, a member of both the Hollies and Crosby, Stills & Nash, has been captured on camera discussing the ‘two Pauls’ with a knowing grin. Videos of Nash on YouTube show him subtly acknowledging the rumours, his expression suggesting there’s more to the story than he’s willing to say outright.

You know? I mean there are people who think Paul McCartney was in Wings.

Nash’s sense of humour may have been too subtle for the interviewer to pick up on, but the point he was making was crystal clear. The man in Wings was not Paul.

In The Memoirs of Billy Shears Billy shares that after John informed Elton John and Bernie Taupin about Paul’s death, they wrote the opening song on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, an atmospheric instrumental known as “Funeral for a Friend”, as a tribute to him. Additionally, their song, “Grey Seal” is also said to be dedicated to Paul, reflecting on his untimely passing and the theme that the new Paul isn’t quite the same.

On the big screen they showed us the sun
But not as bright in life as the real one
It’s never quite the same as the real one?…
The phoenix bird will leave this world to fly
If the phoenix bird can fly, then so can I
(“Grey Seal” | Goodbye Yellow Brick Road | written 1970)

We also have the bizarre incident where Paul’s brother, Mike McCartney, appeared on the popular Mike Douglas Show in the US on 26 November 1969. Mike sat in the audience when Mike Douglas turned and asked:

Douglas: “When is the last time you saw your brother?”
McCartney: “Was his funeral, I think,” he said dryly, nervously, seriously.
Douglas: “Really, when was the last time?”
McCartney: “I don’t know,” he adds – apparently stalling for an answer.
Douglas: “You don’t know?”
McCartney: “Ya, before I came,” he adds nervously.

US talk show hosts, Jimmy Fallon and David Letterman, have repeatedly made fun of Billy when he appeared on their shows, questioning his identity, and Fallon even saying, “You are really one of the best Paul McCartney impersonators, I mean ever”.

American music executive, May Fung Yee Pang, worked as a personal assistant to John Lennon, and later became his girlfriend after John and Yoko split in 1973. She is on record as saying, “The three of the main Beatles, which of course was George, Ringo and John”. Further, in an interview, Ringo Starr has proclaimed “I am the last remaining Beatle.”

One and one and one is three
(“Come Together” | Abbey Road | 1969)

In fact, Ringo allegedly dropped a bomb to the Hollywood Inquirer in 2015, when he shared that Paul died in a car crash on 9 November 1966:

When Paul died, we all panicked!…We didn’t know what to do, and Brian Epstein, our manager, suggested that we hire Billy Shears as a temporary solution. It was supposed to last only a week or two, but time went by and nobody seemed to notice, so we kept playing along. Billy turned out to be a pretty good musician and he was able to perform almost better than Paul. The only problem was that he couldn’t get along with John, at all.

Ringo’s comments are a revelation – if the story of the interview is to be believed, as various news outlets have discredited the Hollywood Inquirer and the authenticity of Ringo’s confession. But then they would, wouldn’t they?

The truth is that many others are on record as having greeted the apparent Paul McCartney as “Billy”, including keyboardist Billy Preston, who recorded with the Beatles in Abbey Road Studio Two, and also George Harrison’s wife Olivia, who affectionately greets him at a social gathering with “Hello Billy”. Each has been captured on video and can be viewed on Youtube.

In 1988 the Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Billy was not invited. Read that again. Paul McCartney was not invited.

Paul McCartney’s father, Jim, died on 18 March 1976 and Paul, who loved his father very much, did not attend the funeral. Read that again.

If that is not enough to alert you to the fact that something is amiss, Billy states in a series of interviews and awards ceremonies in the 1970s that “he had just fallen into the Beatles. They asked me to join”, when in fact he had started the band with Lennon in 1957, and that “I joined the best band in the world”. Apparently, even the most professional of impersonators can slip and fall out of character from time to time.

 

Late Nights All Alone with a Test Tube, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh

We have meticulously examined a diverse array of evidence, some suggestive, some compelling, and other examples that may simply be coincidental. Now, we turn our attention to the scientific data that could ultimately reveal whether Paul and Billy are indeed two distinct individuals. Our exploration begins with an analysis of Paul’s vocal traits.

In The Memoirs of Billy Shears, Billy recounts how a voice analysis intended to confirm his identity as Paul McCartney inadvertently supported the opposite conclusion:

When the ‘Paul is Dead’ phenomenon swept across the United States in 1969, Dr Henry M. Truby of the University of Miami utilised samples from Beatles songs to create sonograms. He aimed to conduct replicable tests to prove that I am Paul McCartney. Instead, he uncovered evidence that suggests I am not. His findings illustrated that the voice heard in “Yesterday” could not belong to the same throat as the voice in “Hey Jude”. They were fundamentally different.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

The analysis was featured in the popular Life magazine on 7 November 1969.

Other scientific studies have also contributed to the analysis. An Italian forensic team, led by Francesco Gavazzeni and Gabriella Carlesi, conducted a biometric analysis comparing Paul McCartney’s facial features before and after 1966. Their research revealed discrepancies that could not be explained by error or even attributed to plastic surgery. These significant findings were published in an article titled Chiedi chi era quel «Beatle» (“Ask who was the Beatle”) in the August 2009 issue of Italian WIRED magazine, further fuelling the controversy surrounding Paul’s true identity after 1966.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Italian WIRED magazine, August 2009

In addition to scientific voice and facial forensic analyses, another critical form of evidence involves DNA. This is where the scientific evidence becomes especially compelling. Paul, like the rest of the Beatles, had many romantic liaisons and fathered several children. One notable case is Philip Paul Cochrane, whose mother, Anita, was paid £5,000 by Epstein to keep Paul’s paternity a secret.

During his teenage years, while performing at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, Paul met and impregnated Monique LeVallier, resulting in the birth of their daughter, Michelle, on 5 April 1960. This experience inspired the song “Michelle,” which later appeared on the Beatles’ 1965 album Rubber Soul. However, not all such liaisons were resolved amicably.

Erika Hubers was an attractive young woman whose father owned a nightclub on Hamburg’s famous Grosse Freiheit. Erika began working as a waitress at one of the local clubs, where she soon crossed paths with Paul. The two quickly grew close and dated for about a year, eventually conceiving a child together in 1962.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Paul with Erika Hubers in 1961
© @PaulMcCartneyandErikaHubers

When the Beatles rose to fame and fortune, Erika sought legal counsel in Hamburg, alleging that Paul was aware of her pregnancy and had urged her to have an abortion. She claimed that Paul was the father of her child, and her lawyer drafted legal documents, which were sent to the Beatles’ solicitor in London. Paul denied any responsibility, and the documents were returned without a response. Derek Jacobs, the Beatles’ solicitor, suggested that if Erika pursued legal action, the matter could be handled by a German tribunal. In response, Erika’s family threatened to take legal action in England, prompting a settlement that led her to drop her claims.

By 1981 Bettina Hubers had taken up the case herself, alleging that the Beatles’ management had paid her mother £13,000 in 1966 to remain silent about her father’s identity. Paul continued to deny being her father, and in 1983 he underwent two separate DNA tests. Both tests returned negative results, definitively proving to a German judge that Paul was not her biological father.

As a postscript to the claim, Bettina also pointed out that Paul was left-handed, while the signature on the legal documents appeared to have been written by a right-handed person. In The Memoirs of Billy Shears it is claimed that Bettina is still pursuing the case, and that this was not the only paternity suit involving Paul that Billy had become entangled in.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Bettina Hubers displays a photo of her alleged father, Paul McCartney
© Bettina Krischbin

Yet another piece of hard evidence, alongside the voice, forensic and DNA analyses, is fingerprint verification. In 1980 Paul McCartney and Wings set out on a highly anticipated, sold-out tour of Japan. However, there was a problem: Paul had attempted to smuggle half a pound of marijuana into the country. On 16 January 1980 he was promptly arrested, and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) was alerted, due to the seriousness of the charges. Despite his fame, Japanese authorities viewed ‘Paul’ as a drug smuggler. INTERPOL, which maintained records on high-profile individuals like Paul, including passports, fingerprints and prior arrests, had a history on file that would soon raise questions.

What complicated matters further was that this wasn’t Paul’s first arrest in Japan. This time he spent over a week in prison, and the authorities became increasingly obsessed by a previous incident from his time in Hamburg, years earlier. During that earlier event, Paul had been arrested for arson after nailing a condom to the wall of a pub and lighting it on fire. His fingerprints were taken at the time, and these prints – now being compared by the Japanese – did not match those of the man they had in custody, Billy.

The Japanese authorities grew suspicious, wondering who this ‘impostor’ was. It took the intervention of Scotland Yard to secure Billy’s release and quiet the mounting speculation. Thus, not only has Billy failed DNA tests, voice analysis, and forensic tests, but his fingerprints do not match Paul’s either!

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Paul is arrested in Japan
© Rex Features

The Fool on the Hill

One variation of the 10 September car-crash theory suggests that on 7 January 1967 Paul McCartney left his home in Abbey Wood, London, with friends Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Robert Fraser, and others. They were reportedly en route to Jagger’s house in Hertfordshire, travelling in a convoy of Mini Coopers. According to the account, Paul and the group were in one car, while Mohammed Hadjij (also known as Mohammed Chtaibi), an assistant to art gallery owner Robert Fraser, drove Paul’s black Mini Cooper alone, carrying drugs for the others. However, as Redwel Trabant astutely notes in his book Beatles Book of Revelations, Jagger did not own a house in Hertfordshire at the time, Paul’s Mini Cooper was actually green, and it’s difficult to envision all those men fitting into a single Mini Cooper. Despite these discrepancies, the story asserts that Paul’s car crashed into a lamppost.

Coincidentally, in August 1966, Jagger nearly wrecked his Aston Martin while driving with his partner on London’s Marylebone Road. At a time when the air was thick with tragedy, such as Tara Browne’s fatal accident, there was certainly no shortage of inspiration for crafting a cover story involving a fatal car crash. But one must ponder: why would anyone choose to invent such a cover-up in the first place, particularly with a car crash as the backdrop? The possibilities are compelling.

Subtly concealed in the footnotes on page 231 of The Memories of Billy Shears, we learn something rather startling:

That slamming door was Brian’s, not Paul’s. According to the agreed-upon cover story, Paul died from reckless driving after an argument at EMI late that night. However, Paul was not at the studio that night. He already died at 5am that morning. The cover story was to make his death appear accidental.

If true, this piece of evidence is a game changer and, curiously, two ‘Paul is Dead’ theories suggest that while Paul died in 1966, the story of his death in a car crash was a deliberate misdirection to conceal the unsavoury truth that he had been murdered. The first theory involves George, who as mentioned earlier, travelled to India in September 1966, and checked into his hotel under the alias ‘Sam Wells’, the Birmingham reporter who had allegedly been bribed not to reveal the details of Paul’s death. According to this account, George confided in trusted, local Indian friends about the reality of Paul’s death, and replacement, urging them to publish the truth upon his own death or on the anniversary of Paul’s 60th birthday, which led to the conspiracies name, 60IF (if Paul had lived to 60).

In this narrative, George alleged that Paul was murdered by the KKK, who were targeting Epstein, arguably the world’s most prominent Jewish gay man at the time, a precarious status given the prevailing attitudes. According to this account, Paul happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Notably, the KKK had protested against the Beatles in 1966, primarily in response to John Lennon’s controversial remark that the band was “more popular than Jesus”.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

The US was particularly upset about John’s comment about Jesus

John’s comment sparked outrage among various religious groups (not just the KKK) and led to protests, particularly in the southern United States. The KKK organised demonstrations at many Beatles concerts, including a famous protest in Memphis, Tennessee, where they publicly burned Beatles records. The backlash was part of a broader cultural clash during the 1960s as various groups reacted to the shifting societal norms and values represented by the band – and Tavistock. Should this scenario of Paul’s murder seem improbable, the KKK made a particularly ominous statement when interviewed about the Beatles’ anti-establishment rhetoric, “We have ways and means to stop this”.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Protests included burning the Beatles’ records

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

The 60IF account, which has been hidden (if not removed) from the internet, stipulated that Paul was found dead early in the morning (“at 5am as the day begins”), with his body located next to a white Volkswagen Beetle, a type and colour of car that was later commemorated on the cover of Abbey Road with the licence plate LMW 28IF. The 60IF theory claims that 48 hours after Paul’s body was discovered, Epstein’s car was found with the word ‘Jude’ written on it, an apparent inspiration for the 1968 song “Hey Jude”. Suspiciously, in the 60IF scenario, the location of Paul’s death was later changed from its original location, at the foot of a hill in England, to a beach in France. There is even a thread to this theory that states that John moved to the US in part to hunt down the members of the KKK who killed Paul. In the 60IF scenario, George stipulates that “the penalty for refusing to remain silent was death”.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

The KKK made threats against the Beatles before their US concert

The other scenario which required a fabricated version of Paul’s death is both more sensational and, in some ways, more plausible than 60IF. Epstein, like the rest of the Beatles, moved in powerful and influential circles. However, Epstein’s social circle also included the world’s most notorious gangsters at the time, the Kray twins. Ronnie and Reggie Kray ruled London’s underworld in the 1960s with a mix of brutal violence and unsettling charisma. Ronnie, who was openly bisexual, had a particular affinity for Epstein, and their shared sexuality added a layer of complexity to their relationship.

To complicate matters Epstein had accumulated substantial debts at various London casinos, including most likely those owned by the Krays. What could possibly go wrong? Epstein’s gambling losses began to pile up, and the Krays squeezed him even harder when they discovered his affair with Dizzie Gillespie, the pioneering jazz trumpeter and composer who the Krays knew from the scene in London’s gay clubs. Rumours also circulated of Epstein being associated with a paedophile child-trafficking organisation, something unheard of at the time, but which is all too common a theme today.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

The notorious Kray twins

The Kray twins admired Epstein’s success and offered him protection at a time when his homosexuality made him vulnerable to threats. In return, they sought a piece of the Beatles, the world’s most lucrative act. Epstein refused and according to Glasgow crime kingpin, Arthur Thompson, the Krays resorted to blackmailing Epstein over both his gambling and homosexuality. In the end it is thought that Thompson convinced the Krays that their association with the Beatles would hurt the band, and thus they were better off with blackmail, not management.

Tragically, and rather suspiciously, Epstein’s life ended in 1967, shortly after the Krays’ rise to power. He died on 27 August 1967 from a drug overdose at the age of 32. Though his death was ruled accidental, it raises questions, especially since the Krays were suspected of murdering the Beatles’ solicitor, David Jacobs. Just one month before the Kray twins were to face trial at the Old Bailey in January 1969 for the brutal murders of George Cornell and Jack “The Hat” McVitie, tragedy struck. Their solicitor, Jacobs, who also represented the Beatles, was found hanging from a length of satin, suspended from a beam in the garage of his seaside home. By then, the Krays had been behind bars for several months, and in desperation had sent word to Jacobs, begging him to use his brilliant legal mind to save them from conviction. But Jacobs had said “no”. And some believe that refusal sealed his fate, because no one dared say “no” to the Krays, even if they were behind bars. Can we say for certain that the Krays killed Paul, and/or Epstein? No, we can’t, but at the very least there appears to be a clear motive, especially if Epstein had stopped his blackmail payments or refused further demands from the Krays.

In yet another twist to the ‘Paul is Dead’ controversy, a woman named Melanie recently posted on a Beatles discussion forum, claiming that she witnessed the aftermath of Paul’s crash and death, which she alleged occurred on the North London street where he lived, Cavendish Avenue. Here’s what she wrote:

As a scared witness no one believes me. I’ve seen Paul’s bloody body pulled out from his wreck on 9.11.66 as it was shortly broadcast on television for a couple of minutes until it got scrapped, but it was an Aston Martin DB6 completely totalled. The cops were in complete shock as they told me and my friend to leave the scene. The truth will be revealed. It was around 10:30 PM on Sunday. I was walking with my friend to her home as we saw multiple police lights in the middle of the street in Cavendish Avenue. We were walking along a sidewalk and saw a black vehicle which was crashed into another vehicle. The body they pulled out was wearing some purple-coloured shirt and his face was completely bloody. I couldn’t capture his features straight – it was horrifying, but I could clearly see the mop top hair of a Beatle. They told us to leave and made sure we did.

If we assume Melanie is English, then the date 9.11.66 refers to 9 November, which was a Wednesday, not a Sunday – but also the date that Ringo said Paul crashed his car and died. If she is not English, then the date 11 September makes sense. Regardless, the woman would likely have been in her 80s at the time of posting her eyewitness account, raising the question of what someone of her age is doing on a discussion forum. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean her account isn’t true.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Paul & Billy’s house on Cavendish Avenue, near Abbey Road Studios. “©” Andrew Gough

Intriguingly, during John and Yoko’s ‘Bed-in for Peace’ in Amsterdam in 1969, John is filmed opening fan mail and reading it aloud for the camera. One letter catches his attention: it claims to convey a message from the spirit of Epstein, reportedly gathered through a Ouija board. The letter not only warns John that he will be assassinated but also states, “Paul McCartney is alive in London”, prompting nervous laughter from both John and Yoko. What a peculiar statement. Did Paul fake his own death? Was he seeking an escape from the pressures of fame, or did he fear he would be sacrificed, due to an alleged Satanic pact that John and Paul had made in Stockholm?

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

John reads the letter about Paul McCartney being alive in London

In the End the Love You Take is Equal to the Love You Make

Satanism is far from a relic of the 1960s; it has woven itself into the very fabric of today’s music industry. Numerous musicians have emerged, revealing that Satanic rituals often unfold in secrecy to secure the success of records, albums, or tours. A striking example is Boyzone star, Shane Lynch, who, in a revealing 2023 interview with Premier Christian Radio, calmly illuminates this dark underbelly. He shares:

I’ve been in rooms – at the pinnacle of the industry – where albums are subjected to demonic prayers. Music is prayed over, invoking darkness before it reaches radio stations and the public. Witnessing this is chilling… Rituals, ceremonies, everything aimed at bestowing light upon the devil, to Satan. It’s a Satanic music industry.

Lynch’s remarks are just the latest in a growing chorus of whistleblowers. Observations from concerts by Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Sam Smith, Katy Perry, and many others, reveal a haunting spectacle: public rituals masquerading as entertainment. Whether these overtly Satanic performances are mere gimmicks or genuine rituals remains debatable, yet the evidence of deliberate orchestration by shadowy puppet masters is mounting.

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

© Getty Images

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

© Samir Hussein / Getty
Sam Smith, Taylor Swift, and Lady Gaga in concert. Rock ’n’ roll, or something more?

Particularly striking is the rapid transformation of many artists from virtuous to Satanic, seemingly overnight. The swirling controversy surrounding Sean John Combs (P Diddy) and his infamous Satanic-themed parties, and Marina Abramović’s ‘Spirit Cooking’, hints at a deeper, more insidious reality, one that many believe is only the tip of the iceberg. Certainly, dark imagery has long been a part of music’s tapestry; artists like David Bowie and many others have embraced, whether ironically or sincerely, the allure of Satanic influences for decades. Yet, in the light of the current deluge of such symbolism, one could be forgiven for viewing this phenomenon through a more discerning lens. The sheer volume of these motifs invites a deeper examination, compelling us to question the intentions behind the art and the shadows that may lurk beneath its surface.

The Beatles began their journey as an unassuming club band from 1960 to 1962, but soon evolved into the world’s greatest stadium act from 1962 to 1966. If we entertain the notion of the alleged Satanic oath taken by McCartney and Lennon in Stockholm, this pivotal period marks the beginning of their descent into a darker realm, a journey that would reshape not only their music, but also the very fabric of popular culture. After that everything shifted as they embraced a new identity as a studio band from 1966 to 1970. During this period they created some of their most compelling music, marking a significant transformation. The final chapter, beginning in 1971 and continuing to the present, focuses on the solo careers of each former Beatle. As of writing, Billy is still actively recording and touring.

We have examined both the suggestive and scientific evidence regarding the possibility that Paul McCartney died in or around September 1966 and was replaced by a lookalike. Considering the strength of the evidence, it certainly seems plausible. However, the circumstances of his death remain unclear.

I previously posed the question: was the entire ‘Paul is Dead’ controversy a ruse to boost record sales and keep fans engaged, ensuring the Beatles remained relevant? While that is a possibility, it seems unlikely, given the numerous anomalies in the story. Or are we simply overthinking it and seeing patterns where there are none? How can we be sure?

If we consider the possibility that Paul died and was replaced by William Shepherd/Campbell, AKA Billy Shears, the question remains: how did he die? As we have seen, there are several distinct scenarios. As we wrap up our exploration of the ‘Paul is Dead’ legend, let’s review the viability of each scenario.

  1. Paul left EMI Studios in anger on the evening of 10 September 1966. Shortly after, he picked up a hitchhiker and was involved in a car crash, which reportedly occurred either on the Old Dewsbury Road (in North London or on the approach to Leeds), the A31 (a busy road in southern England, also the B31 is a postcode in Birmingham where Sam Wells was from), or on Cavendish Avenue near Paul’s London home, according to an alleged eyewitness. Alternatively, the same scenario is said to have happened on 9 November 1966 – a theory allegedly confirmed by Ringo in his 2015 interview.
  2. Paul died in a car crash on the M1 Motorway on 7 January as he drove to a house owned or used by Mick Jagger.
  3. Paul died in a car crash with Tara Browne in London – near Earl’s Court, London, on 18 December 1966.
  4. Paul was murdered, either in England or France, by the KKK as retribution for the Beatles’ anti-Christian rhetoric and their high-profile Jewish manager. They might have been targeting Epstein, with Paul caught in the crossfire, or they could have killed Paul for revenge, despite John being the one who had made the comment about the Beatles being more popular than Jesus. It is worth noting that Epstein checked into hospital for anxiety in late September 1966. Was he shaken by the death and cover-up of Paul? Could the car-crash rumour have been a misdirection to steer attention away from the KKK, should they continue their manhunt?
  5. Paul and Epstein were murdered by the Krays (first Paul, and then later Epstein) in retribution for Epstein not letting the Krays manage and/or exploit the Beatles’ wealth. Again, was the car crash just a misdirection to divert attention away from the fact that Paul was murdered by the Krays, who the Beatles feared might kill again?
  6. Paul faked his own death, possibly, to escape the sacrifice that would await him for his allegiance to Satanic forces. Remember, neither his family nor Epstein believed that the body in the morgue was his, and the letter that John later read on camera said that Paul McCartney was alive and living in London. What a curious thing to say when the world already believed he was alive. Further, the internet is rife with videos of a man some claim to be the original Paul McCartney; a man who looks like an authentic version of an elderly Paul McCartney.

In conclusion, the theories surrounding Paul McCartney’s alleged death in 1966 continue to captivate and ignite passionate debate among fans and sceptics alike. Whether one embraces the various scenarios or dismisses them as mere speculation, the enduring fascination with this mystery reflects the profound impact the Beatles and their music have had on our culture. Yet, the unsettling whispers of dark, Satanic connections evoke a sense of shadowy agendas and hidden associations. It is difficult to overlook the compelling evidence suggesting the existence of two Paul McCartneys. With confessions and first-hand accounts hinting that Paul indeed died in 1966, our collective silence in the face of this evidence suggests a deeper truth: we may have been unwittingly influenced, choosing to ignore the reality laid before us. Are we, the public, the real victims of MKUltra?

While the alleged details of McCartney’s fate remain shrouded in mystery, the legacy of his artistry and the timeless melodies that have shaped generations will resonate for eternity. Personally, I believe that McCartney died in or around 1966 and was replaced by the current ‘Paul’. I also assert that Satanic influences have permeated the music industry since the dawn of rock ’n’ roll and are stronger today than ever before. Yet, the circumstances surrounding McCartney’s death – that is, how he died – remain a haunting enigma; one that I continue to explore and contemplate.

What do you believe?

‘Paul is Dead’ and the Beatles’ Satanic Legacy

Leaving Abbey Road Studios
© Andrew Gough