@rockhistation

𝐎𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟗 (𝟎𝟖.𝟎𝟖.𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟗) The Beatles shoot the photo for their Abbey Road album cover at the crosswalk outside Abbey Road studios, where they are recording. Fans find many nested clues in the shot of the four band members walking in stride across the street, fuelling rumors that Paul McCartney is dead. 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 @rockhistation 𝐚𝐧𝐝 @ucoofficial #quality There is no text on the cover, just the photo. John Lennon leads the way, followed by Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison. The "Paul is dead" rumors have been floating around since the group stopped touring in 1966 - it was whispered that he had been replaced by a lookalike. On the cover, McCartney is smoking a cigarette and is barefoot. In the conspiracy theory, he represents a corpse in a funeral procession, with Lennon (in a white suit) the priest, Ringo (in black) the pallbearer, and Harrison (in casual clothes) the gravedigger. Then there's the Volkswagen Beetle parked askew on the side of the street. The license plate reads "28IF," as in McCartney would be 28 years old if he were still alive. Sounds nutty, right? Well, Life magazine takes them seriously enough to go with the headline "Paul Is Still With Us" on their November 7, 1969 issue after they track down McCartney, who has decamped to Scotland with his family. It was McCartney who came up with the concept for the cover. The Beatles were still working on the album and things were a little tense, so the shoot had to be quick and easy. It takes place at 11:35 a.m. and lasts about 10 minutes, with photographer Iain MacMillan taking six photos from a stepladder in the middle of the street while police block off traffic. McCartney picks the cover photo.