Editing Paul is dead (section)

==Aftermath==
In November 1969, [[Capitol Records]] sales managers reported a significant increase in sales of Beatles catalogue albums, attributed to the rumour.<ref name="Burks/RS" /> Rocco Catena, Capitol's vice-president of national merchandising, estimated that "this is going to be the biggest month in history in terms of Beatles sales".{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|p=127}}<ref name="Burks/RS">{{cite magazine|last=Burks|first=John|title=A Pile of Money on Paul's 'Death'|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=29 November 1969|pages=6, 10}}</ref> The rumour benefited the commercial performance of ''Abbey Road'' in the US, where it comfortably outsold all of the band's previous albums.{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|pp=126–27}} ''Sgt. Pepper'' and ''Magical Mystery Tour'', both of which had been off the charts since February, re-entered the ''Billboard'' [[Billboard 200|Top LPs]] chart,{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|p=127}} peaking at number 101 and number 109, respectively.{{sfn|Castleman|Podrazik|1976|p=361}}

A television special dedicated to "Paul is dead" was broadcast on [[WWOR-TV|WOR]] in New York on 30 November.<ref name=Allen/> Titled ''Paul McCartney: The Complete Story, Told for the First and Last Time'', it was set in a courtroom and hosted by celebrity lawyer [[F. Lee Bailey]],{{sfn|McKinney|2003|p=292}} who [[Cross-examination|cross-examine]]d LaBour,<ref name=Allen/> Gibb and other proponents of the theory, and heard opposing views from "witnesses" such as McCartney's friend [[Peter Asher]], brother [[Mike McCartney]] and [[Allen Klein]].{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|p=127}} Bailey left it to the viewer to determine a conclusion.{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|p=127}} Before the recording, LaBour told Bailey that his article had been intended as a joke, to which Bailey sighed and replied, "Well, we have an hour of television to do; you're going to have to go along with this."<ref name=Allen/>

{{quote box
|quote=It was a bit weird meeting people shortly after that, because they'd be looking at the back of my ears, looking a bit through me. And it was weird doing the "I really ''am'' him" stuff.{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=342}}
|source=—Paul McCartney
|width=22%
}}
McCartney returned to London in December. Bolstered by Linda's support, he began recording his debut solo album at his home in [[St John's Wood]].{{sfn|Sounes|2010|p=264}} Titled ''[[McCartney (album)|McCartney]]'', and recorded without his bandmates' knowledge,{{sfn|Doggett|2011|pp=111, 121}}{{sfn|Rodriguez|2010|p=2}} it was "one of the best-kept secrets in rock history" until shortly before its release in April 1970, according to author [[Nicholas Schaffner]], and led to the announcement of the [[Break-up of the Beatles|Beatles' break-up]].{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|p=135}} In his 1971 song "[[How Do You Sleep? (John Lennon song)|How Do You Sleep?]]", in which he attacked McCartney's character,{{sfn|Rodriguez|2010|p=399}} Lennon described the theorists as "freaks" who “was right when they said you was dead".{{sfn|Sounes|2010|p=290}} The rumour was also cited in the hoax surrounding the Canadian band [[Klaatu (band)|Klaatu]],<ref name="Raymond/Vulture" /> after a January 1977 review of their debut album, ''[[3:47 EST]]'', sparked rumours that the group were in fact the Beatles.{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|pp=189–90}} In one telling, this theory contended that the album had been recorded in late 1966 but then mislaid until 1975, at which point Lennon, Harrison and Starr elected to issue it in McCartney's memory.<ref name="Raymond/Vulture">{{cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2016/10/pop-culture-conspiracy-theories-c-v-r.html|first=Adam K.|last=Raymond|title=The 70 Greatest Conspiracy Theories in Pop-Culture History|website=[[Vulture.com|Vulture]]|date=23 October 2016|access-date=16 November 2019|archive-date=25 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025225133/https://www.vulture.com/2016/10/pop-culture-conspiracy-theories-c-v-r.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

LaBour later became notable as the bassist for the [[western swing]] group [[Riders in the Sky (band)|Riders in the Sky]], which he co-founded in 1977. In 2008, he joked that his success as a musician had extended his [[fifteen minutes of fame]] for his part in the rumour to "seventeen minutes".<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=LaBour|first1=Fred|title=True Westerners: Fred Labour – Too Slim of Riders in the Sky|url=http://www.truewestmagazine.com/fred-labour-too-slim-of-riders-in-the-sky/|magazine=[[True West Magazine]]|access-date=28 June 2016|date=1 August 2008|archive-date=30 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730052717/http://www.truewestmagazine.com/fred-labour-too-slim-of-riders-in-the-sky/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2015, he told ''[[The Detroit News]]'' that he is still periodically contacted by conspiracy theorists who have attempted to present him with supposed new developments on the McCartney rumours.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rubin|first=Neal|title=Paul McCartney still isn't dead. Neither is the story|url=http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/neal-rubin/2015/09/09/neal-rubin-column-riders-sky/71974774/|newspaper=[[The Detroit News]]|date=10 September 2015|access-date=27 June 2016|archive-date=6 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006225718/https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/neal-rubin/2015/09/09/neal-rubin-column-riders-sky/71974774/|url-status=live}}</ref>