Phil Spector
American music producer Phil Spector has passed away. Spector, considered one of the most influential producers of all time, was 81 years old.
Spector died while serving his 19-year sentence for killing actress Lana Clarkson in 2003. California prison authorities said it was a natural death and the official cause of death has yet to be confirmed, but entertainment website TMZ says it knows the coronavirus became fatal to him.
According to TMZ, Spector was taken to hospital four weeks ago for his infection with covid-19. Because he had been strengthened in recent weeks, he was allowed back to his cell. But he eventually died of the virus in a hospital yesterday, the entertainment website says.
Wall of Sound
The music producer gained a big name for his development of the Wall of Sound: a sound recording technique that produces songs with a new, orchestral sound, in which mutual musical instruments are difficult to distinguish.
Spector produced big hits like Imagine from John Lennon. Since the 1960s he has worked with The Beatles, Ike and Tina Turner, The Ramones and Leonard Cohen, among others. Between 1961 and 1965, the American produced twenty top 40 hits. Great artists such as the Beach Boys and Bruce Springsteen, who did not work with him, were also influenced by his style.
Spector’s first hit To Know Him Is To Love Him from The Teddy Bears:
Spector, who struggled with addictions to drugs and alcohol, retired from music during the 1980s and 1990s. On February 3, 2003, he was arrested after the discovery of Lana Clarkson’s body in his home.
He had met the actress that night at a club in Hollywood. They went to Spector’s house together, which she did not survive. The music producer said she wanted to “kiss” his gun herself, but it was revealed during the trial that he had previously threatened four women with a gun. In 2009 he was sentenced to nineteen years in prison.
