Russ Gibb

"Uncle" Russ Gibb (born 1931) is a former concert promoter, and media personality from Dearborn, Michigan, best known for his role in the Paul is Dead phenomenon, a story he broke as a disc jockey on radio station WKNR-FM in Detroit.

On October 12, 1969, a caller to Detroit radio station WKNR-FM told disc jockey Russ Gibb about the rumor and its clues. Gibb and other callers then discussed the rumor on the air for the next hour. Two days after the WKNR broadcast, The Michigan Daily published a satirical review of Abbey Road by University of Michigan student Fred LaBour under the headline "McCartney Dead; New Evidence Brought to Light". It identified various clues to McCartney's death on Beatles album covers, including new clues from the just-released Abbey Road LP. As LaBour had invented many of the clues, he was astonished when the story was picked up by newspapers across the United States. Russ Gibb further fueled the rumor with a special two-hour program on the subject, "The Beatle Plot", which aired on October 19, 1969, and in the years since on Detroit radio.

After a visit to the Fillmore and a talk with promoter Bill Graham, Russ Gibb operated Detroit's Grande Ballroom and was a major player in the late sixties/early seventies Detroit music scene. He was instrumental in giving the MC5, Ted Nugent and Iggy Pop their start. The Grande Ballroom also was where The Who played their rock opera, Tommy, for the first time in the United States.

Gibb also owned or leased other live music venues around the Mid-West including the Eastown Ballroom, Michigan Theater (where the New York Dolls played), and the Birmingham Palladium. He expanded his music endeavors when he invested in Creem magazine.

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