A rumor circulated online in mid-September 2025 that music legend Paul McCartney of The Beatles stopped a concert in London to honor conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot Sept. 10, with a tribute version of "Let It Be."
For example, on Sept. 14, the Facebook page OLD SCHOOL posted the rumor, receiving more than 51,000 reactions as of this writing. The post included two images showing McCartney and Kirk.
Other Facebook users shared the same claim. Some of those posts featured links in top comments leading to advertisement-filled blog posts. Multiple Snopes readers searched our website to verify the rumor.
However, searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo and Yahoo found no news media outlets reporting about McCartney stopping his concert to honor Kirk with a tribute performance. Prominent news media outlets would have widely reported this rumor, if true.
Rather, whoever authored the story fabricated the entire tale as one of hundreds of inspirational tales featuring celebrities. They aimed to earn advertising revenue on websites linked from the aforementioned Facebook posts. As we'll lay out later in this article, the story about McCartney stopping his concert to honor Kirk with a "Let It Be" tribute amounted to fiction.
An examination of the OLD SCHOOL page's stories found multiple indications of artificial intelligence-generated images and text. For example, the Sightengine AI-detection website found a 99% probability that someone "likely" generated the image in one of the posts with AI. Signs of AI featured in the photo included overly smooth skin texture and unnatural colors.
(sightengine.com)
These stories all very much resembled glurge, which Dictionary.com defines as "stories, often sent by email, that are supposed to be true and uplifting, but which are often fabricated and sentimental."
The fabricated story on the advertisement-filled websites started as follows:
The atmosphere at London's iconic O2 Arena on that unforgettable night was electric, filled with thousands of fans eagerly awaiting Paul McCartney's performance. But what was supposed to be a night of music and celebration quickly transformed into a deeply emotional tribute. Partway through his set, McCartney paused, his eyes reflecting a rare vulnerability that captivated the entire audience. The cause of this sudden shift was the shocking news of the death of Charlie Kirk, a young man McCartney had personally admired for his courage, conviction, and heart.
As the crowd fell silent, McCartney spoke directly to them, his voice heavy with emotion. "Tonight, I want to take a moment to remember someone very special," he said, pausing as tears welled in his eyes. "Charlie Kirk was a young man who stood for what he believed in, who inspired everyone around him, and whose light was far too bright to leave us so soon." The sincerity in his words resonated deeply with the audience, and a hushed reverence fell over the arena. It was a moment that transcended music-a shared human experience of loss, grief, and the power of remembrance.
Then, McCartney did something that would leave a lasting impression on everyone present. He dedicated one of his most beloved songs, "Let It Be," to Charlie Kirk. The choice of song felt perfectly symbolic: a message of comfort and hope in the face of heartbreak. As the opening chords rang out, the crowd instinctively joined in, their voices blending into a sea of harmony that filled the arena with both sorrow and solace. Fans sang along, many wiping tears from their eyes, feeling connected not only to McCartney but also to the memory of the young man being honored.
There was no record of any such McCartney concert happening at O2 Arena in London in September 2025. The language, tone and structure of the article also showed signs of AI generation, such as exaggerated, emotional language and vague sourcing.
What's more, ZeroGPT, an AI-detection tool, indicated with 100% certainty that the text was AI-generated.
(ZeroGPT)
For further reading, Snopes previously reported on a rumor that singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran released a tribute song honoring Kirk.