Paul McCartney and Dog Arrow on the Abbey Road Crossing for the “Paul Is Live” Album Cover Photoshoot, 1993

In August 1969, The Beatles gathered outside EMI Studios to walk across the zebra crossing on Abbey Road. Photographer Iain Macmillan was positioned on a stepladder in the middle of the street, equipped with a Hasselblad camera, to capture what would become the iconic cover photograph of their album Abbey Road.

Over time, fans began to spot several supposed “clues” on the album cover fueling the “Paul Is Dead” conspiracy theory, which gained momentum following the release of Abbey Road. Among them were Paul’s barefoot appearance and the license plate of the white Volkswagen Beetle in the background reading “28IF,” interpreted by some to mean Paul would have been 28 if he were still alive.

On July 25, 1993, Paul McCartney and Iain Macmillan were back at Abbey Road to recreate the iconic image for his album Paul Is Live. This time, Paul was wearing shoes and accompanied by Arrow, his Old English sheepdog and the offspring of Martha, the dog he famously owned during the 1960s.

“‘Paul is Live’! Well, that’s why we did the cover on the Abbey Road crossing with my little doggie,” McCartney said. “This rumour had come out; it was an American DJ that had started it. And because I was barefoot in the original Abbey Road crossing picture, which really was because it was a very hot day. And I had arrived wearing sandals and kicked them off for a couple of the shots. And one of the shots we used was me without the sandals. So, you know, in those days people were going, ‘Why has he got bare feet?’ Whereas I would say, ‘It was probably hot and he probably took his sandals off!’ If you’re looking for conspiracies, apparently it was some old mafia thing about being barefooted!”

The 1993 photograph was digitally superimposed over the original 1969 image. Notably, the Beetle’s license plate was altered to read “51 IS,” referencing Paul’s age at the time.

The front cover of the album Paul Is Live.

Excerpted from his shows in Australia, as well as from various cities in the United States, Paul Is Live followed McCartney’s previous live album Tripping the Live Fantastic by only three years. It became his lowest-selling live album, peaking at number 34 in the UK and number 78 in the US.