Stories that seem impossible, and often untrue, about celebrities have existed for as long as there have been famous people. However, as you will discover in the following countdown of Rock Music’s 25 Craziest Conspiracy Theories, this type of superstar gossip surged once we embarked on the information superhighway.
One of the earlier examples predates the internet, as fans openly speculated whether Paul McCartney had been replaced by a lookalike before the release of 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Fast forward a few decades, and it gets even stranger: A conspiracy theorist later emerged who genuinely believed that the Beatles never existed at all.
More perplexingly, some of these bizarre theories have turned out to be completely true. Indeed, Rolling Stones member Keith Richards did once snort his father’s ashes – but that doesn’t make it any less outrageous.
Have These Conspiracy Theories Been Debunked?
Teams of online detectives have worked to either validate or debunk these claims. Most follow a similarly outrageous line of inquiry until they are proven false, but that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from churning.
Message boards and chat rooms eventually transitioned to social media, and now pop-culture paranoia is rampant. Many have worked extremely hard to disbelieve what they witnessed firsthand – and this was before AI made that increasingly challenging.
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Ever wondered which of these stories is true – or, more importantly, which ones aren’t? Here’s a ranked look back at Rock Music’s 25 Craziest Conspiracy Theories:
Rock Music’s 25 Craziest Conspiracy Theories
Which stories are true, and which aren’t? Let’s count them down …
Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
