Illinois University's student newspaper, the Northern Star, ran an article in the September 23, 1969, edition entitled "Clues Hint at Possible Beatle Death". The earliest piece, however, was by Tim Harper, whose article appeared in the college newspaper of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on September 17, 1969. Once the rumor became widespread Harper achieved some notoriety for being the first to put all of the clues together. The Des Moines Register reported that Harper had been paid for interviews in several states and that WLS-TV in Chicago had even chartered a private plane for him so that he could appear on their morning talk show. And he didn't even own any of the Beatles' albums! [2] "It was just a joke," he said. "I was the first one to put it all together. I knew when I wrote the story that it wasn't true." [3]

Perhaps the article that did the most to propel the "Paul is dead" rumor was one written by a University of Michigan student named Frad LaBour. LaBour's article appeared in the October 14, 1969, edition of the Michigan Daily, the University of Michigan's newspaper, just two days after Tom's call to Russ Gibb. Set with the task of writing a review of Abbey Road, LaBour wrote a tongue-in-cheek obituary of the Beatles. Even though it was not the first article about Paul's rumored death, LaBour's article in the was important because it fleshed out several aspects of the story. Many of the elements of the rumor that have been repeated countless times were products of LaBour's imagination. He created the identity of Paul's replacement, William Campbell, and he asserted the walrus was an image of death, stating "'Walrus' is greek for corpse." [4]

Actually rumors of Paul's death were nothing new. A version of the "Paul is dead" rumor had existed in the UK at least as early as 1967. Paul had been involved in an accident in 1966 but he had sustained only minor injuries. Much like the rumors about Bob Dylan's death followed his motorcycle accident, Paul was the subject of the same sort of speculation. J. Marks, writing in the New York Times, recounted that he and Linda Eastman, who had yet to meet Paul, had just finished working on a book together. Linda wondered aloud how she might meet Paul and then heard that Paul was dead and had been replaced by a double. Linda apparently was undeterred from meeting Paul and they were married within two years. When Linda and Paul married in March of 1969, J. Marks congratulated Paul with the message "Congratulations whoever you are!" [5]

Andru J. Reeve points to a record by Terry Knight as being important in starting the rumor that Paul McCartney had died. Knight was a radio personality in Detroit who formed a band called The Pack and later began performing solo. In early 1969 Knight went to London hoping to join Apple records but the trip proved unsuccessful. [6] Knight found that the Beatles were fighting amongst themselves. Just after he returned to Detroit the Beatles hired Allen Klein to represent them against Paul's wishes. As a result of his experiences with the Beatles, Knight recorded a song about Paul McCartney entitled "Saint Paul," which was released in May of 1969. This song laments the Beatles' troubles but clearly identifies with Paul McCartney. Knight evidently was aware that the Beatles were disintegrating, as in "You knew it all along/Something had gone wrong/They couldn't hear your song" and "Sir Isaac Newton said it had to fall." Those looking for evidence that Paul McCartney had died interpreted these lines as referring to Paul himself.