Legendary producer and convicted murderer Phil Spector dies at 81

Phil Spector, the producer whose legendary “Wall of Sound” lent maxed out arrangements and dense sonic textures to loads of hit songs in the 1960s and ’70s, has died of COVID-19 at the age of 81. He was serving a sentence of 19 years to life in a California prison for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson.

Spector produced and co-wrote albums with Motown bands the Ronettes and the Crystals in the early ’60s, and later produced the Beatles’ last album Let It Be as well as Death of a Ladies Man by Leonard Cohen and End of a Century by the Ramones, among many other records.

Even prior to his murder conviction, Spector was known to be an abusive and threatening person, reportedly pulling guns on a number of musicians in the studio and in his home, including John Lennon, the Ramones and his wife Ronnie Spector.

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