Phil Spector is a music producer who has earned millions of dollars in his career. But he’s currently serving 19 years to life for murder.
He’s credited with creating the Wall of Sound technique and helped create a generation of hits. His daughter Nicole has filed a petition to take control of her father’s estate.
He married Ronnie Bennett of the Ronettes
Veronica Bennett, known as Ronnie, was born in New York’s Spanish Harlem neighborhood. She formed the Ronettes with her sister Estelle and cousin Nedra Talley in 1961, singing at local sock hops and teenage dance events.
When she auditioned for producer Phil Spector, he recognized that her powerful voice complemented his famous Wall of Sound technique — a special effect in which multiple voices overdub orchestral tracks to create the sensation of an exploding wall. The group’s first single, “Be My Baby,” became a huge hit in 1963.
The group’s five top 40 hits from 1964 through 1965, including their signature song, paved the way for them to perform with the Beatles and Rolling Stones. But their career was overshadowed by Spector’s abusive marriage to the singer. She was confined to their Beverly Hills mansion, and she suffered a series of abuses from her husband as they tried to sabotage her career.
He was convicted of killing Lana Clarkson
A Los Angeles jury has convicted music producer Phil Spector of second-degree murder in the death of Lana Clarkson. The verdict came six years after Clarkson was found dead in a chair inside Spector’s 30-room mansion with a bullet in her mouth.
The verdict read in a tense courtroom was based on five months of testimony. Prosecutors and Spector’s defence presented a series of dueling scientific cases with both sides insisting bloodstains and other evidence supported their version of the shooting.
According to a Billboard report, Clarkson’s tongue was severely bruised from the gunshot – a common sign of blunt-force trauma. She was also wearing a purse on her shoulder at the time of the incident, Dr. Pena told the court, which is unusual for a suicidal woman.
Phil Spector’s daughter Nicole argued her father was “easy prey” for prosecutors and said evidence heard at his trial made it clear he couldn’t have pulled the trigger. She is featured in a Sky documentary which explores the murder, with the director saying her mother is “still struggling with her father’s portrayal as a murderer”.
He was married to Rachelle Spector
During his lifetime, Spector had several flings and married a few women. He even had children from a few of them.
In the early 1960s, he had many hits with the Ronettes and the Crystals. He also worked with Tina Turner and John Lennon. He produced many of their biggest hits and was credited with developing the “Wall of Sound” that characterized their music.
He also produced a male duo called the Righteous Brothers and Darlene Love, who was his back-up singer for ten years. She also released her own solo material in 1963.
She was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Six months before his first murder trial began, Spector married Rachelle Short, a 26-year-old singer and actress who accompanied him to court every day. The couple divorced in 2016. She reportedly bled him dry of his $35 million fortune by splashing out on expensive jets, luxury cars and homes.
He was a producer
Spector was a producer who helped shape pop music, particularly during the 1960s. His production techniques, often referred to as the “wall of sound,” were a dense, layered orchestral approach to recording that influenced artists including Brian Wilson and Bruce Springsteen.
He was also a co-founder of Philles Records, which helped launch the careers of several bands and artists, including The Righteous Brothers and the Ronettes. His most famous work was the 1966 single “River Deep, Mountain High,” a hit for Ike and Tina Turner.
But Spector’s success stalled in the mid-’60s. The teen operas and self-contained bands that were a staple of his productions were discarded in favor of a more sweeping style of rock music, including the Beatles and Rolling Stones.
After a resounding flop with Ike & Tina’s “River Deep,” Spector was forced to close his label, but he quickly resumed production work, producing John Lennon and George Harrison’s Let It Be and later producing albums for the Ramones and Leonard Cohen. He also produced a number of other musicians and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.