Paul Is Dead - Aftermath

Aftermath

Before the end of October 1969, several records were released on the subject—including "The Ballad of Paul" by the Mystery Tour, "Brother Paul" by Billy Shears and the All Americans, and "So Long Paul" by Werbley Finster, a pseudonym for José Feliciano.

Terry Knight, a singer on Capitol Records, had witnessed the Beatles' White Album session during which drummer Ringo Starr had walked out and, in May 1969, released a song called "Saint Paul" about the impending break-up of the Beatles. The tune nosed onto the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart at #114 in late June and was quickly forgotten until a few months later, when it was picked up by radio stations as a tribute to "the late" Paul McCartney.

A television programme hosted by celebrity lawyer F. Lee Bailey was broadcast on WOR in New York on 30 November in which Bailey cross-examined LaBour and other "witnesses" about the rumour, but he left it to the viewer to determine conclusions. When, before the recording, LaBour told Bailey that his article had been intended as a joke, Bailey sighed and replied "Well, we have an hour of television to do; you're going to have to go along with this."

Both Lennon and McCartney subsequently referred to the legend in their music: Lennon in his 1971 song "How Do You Sleep?" (describing those who had spread the rumour as ‘freaks’), and McCartney with the title and cover of his 1993 live album Paul Is Live (parodying the Abbey Road cover and its "hidden clues").

As well as being the subject of several books, films, and analyses, there have been many references to the legend in popular culture. Examples include a parody of the story published in a 1970 Batman comic book, comedic references in television programmes such as The Simpsons (1990), being discussed in a 2006 episode of the Catalan soap opera El Cor de la Ciutat, and a 2009 Wired Italia magazine article which compared selected photographs of McCartney, taken before and after his alleged demise.

In 2010, a mockumentary entitled Paul McCartney Really Is Dead: The Last Testament of George Harrison?, featuring fabricated found footage audio tapes of a voice claiming to be Harrison explaining that the rumour was true, was released on video.