Yes, Paul is dead
(1 of 3)
Next position >
Those surrounding Paul covered up his death
Paul McCartney died in a tragic car accident, and, to spare the public from grief, the remaining Beatles replaced him with the winner of a McCartney look-alike-winner, in order to cover up the musician's death.
<
(2 of 4)
Next argument >
The Argument
Paul McCartney died in a tragic car accident on 9th November, 1966. With fears that the musician’s death may lead to global grief and extreme hysteria, George Martin, Brian Epstein, the surviving Beatles, or a combination of all of them, replaced Paul McCartney with a replacement called Billy Shears, (sometimes known as William Campbell) the winner of a Paul McCartney look-alike-contest.
Some fans have even stated that Brian Epstein bribed police, journalists and hospital workers, who may have known about McCartney’s death, to keep the accident under wraps. Others have suggested that the replacement was instigated by Britain’s MI5 out of concern for the severe distress McCartney’s death would cause the Beatles’ audience. There were millions of Beatles’ fans who lived all over the world, the global grief as a result of McCartney’s death may have had disastrous consequences, so a cover-up was necessary.
After they were able to cast the perfect replacement, the Beatles trained Shears to sing, play the guitar, write songs, and imitate his jovial personality, so he could successfully become Paul.[1] Fortunately, Billy Shears is so brilliant at imitating MCcartney, that he has convinced millions that he is the iconic musician.
Counter arguments
Many people believe that this argument is a baseless conspiracy theory. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that anyone attempted to cover up the death of one of the most iconic musicians to have ever lived. Without any evidence, there is no reason to believe that this argument has any truth to it. Furthermore, It would have also been nearly impossible, and too much of a coincidence, to find a man who looked identical to McCartney, had a very similar voice, brilliant song-writing ability, and could imitate the personality and mannerisms of someone who had been so closely examined and followed by millions of adoring fans, without anyone noticing potential differences. On 21 October 1969, the Beatles' press office issued statements denying the rumour, describing it as "a load of old rubbish".[2]
Premises
[P1] People close to the Beatles, and the remaining Beatles, conspired to keep Paul’s death a secret. This involved an elaborate cover up-scheme involving a Paul McCartney lookalike.
[P2] Therefore, Paul McCartney is dead.
Rejecting the premises
[Rejecting P1]. This argument is a baseless conspiracy theory with no evidence to back it up. It would have been impossible to find a man who resembled McCartney so perfectly that he could convince the whole word that he was the real Paul McCartney.