Phil Spector: Legendary producer, convicted murderer dies at 81

Phil Spector, music legend and convicted murderer, has died at 81

Phil Spector has died at the age of 81. He leaves behind a complicated legacy, one that is both steeped in the stuff of legends and mired in tragedy. Spector was a celebrated music producer whose invention of the “Wall of Sound” changed the industry forever. He was also a convicted murderer who died in prison.

Spector had deep connections to the Motown music community. He worked on such popular songs as “Da Do Ron Ron” and “Be My Baby,” both venerated anthems of the day. Later on he would work with the Beatles, earning praise from John Lennon and scorn from Paul McCartney.

The Wall of Sound method created “little symphonies” by overdubbing the music and vocal tracks until they sounded wholly unlike a live recording. It was a game changer.

He was divisive in his methods. Artists seemed to either love his work, or not like it at all. He wanted to control the sound on the music he produced. John Lennon was one of the few people who said no to some of his ideas when Spector’s interests clashed with his own, but ultimately they produced some amazing work together.

His personal life was fraught with marriages and divorces. He was diagnosed with manic depression, which he cited as one of the reasons for his eccentric and erratic behavior.

Later in life he was embroiled in controversy when actress Lana Clarkson died at his mansion in 2003. Spector called it an “accidental suicide” but it was ruled a murder, for which Spector received 19 years to life in prison. The trial was a spectacle in itself. There were lots of people who refused to believe that the diminutive, Mad Hatter-like Spector was capable of murder, but his eccentricities couldn’t be denied.

Spector was being held at a California prison in Stockton, and he died at a local hospital.