Phil Spector

While producing Ike Turner and Tina Turner in the mid-1960s, Spector actually worked only with Tina; Ike was reportedly paid $10,000 not to attend the sessions.

He was voted the 63rd Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artist of all time by Rolling Stone.

First met The Beatles in early 1964, on the airplane carrying them to New York for their first US visit; by late 1969, he'd long been interested in producing them. Allen Klein brought Spector to England, where he hit it off well with John Lennon and George Harrison. After helping produce Lennon's solo single "Instant Karma!" (written and recorded all in one day, and a #3 hit in the US), Spector was given the tapes of the ill-fated "Get Back" project, which nobody involved wanted to touch, as a "band audition". While "Let It Be" was a successful and reasonably consistent album, his changes to the group's sound drew considerable fire from the critics, and particularly from Paul McCartney, who was furious about the overdubs made to "The Long and Winding Road". Nevertheless, both Lennon and Harrison continued to work with Spector on solo projects, and Spector later co-produced Yoko Ono's album "Season of Glass", in the months after Lennon's death.

The character of Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) is based loosely on stories about Spector.

Dan Kessel and David Kessel, Spector's production coordinators and musicians/vocalists in his infamous Wrecking Crew since 1974, are stepsons of legendary actor Mickey Rooney.

Elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 (under the category Non-Performer).

Is portrayed by Rob LaBelle in What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) and Al Pacino in "Phil Spector".

Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1997.

On February 3, 2003, he was arrested and charged with first-degree murder after Lana Clarkson was shot to death in his home in Alhambra, CA. In April 2007 he went on trial in Los Angeles. On April 13, 2009, he was convicted of second-degree murder. On May 29 he was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison (he will not be eligible for parole until 2028, when he'll be 88 years old. If he doesn't get parole then, by California law his sentence will become a life term). He is serving his sentence at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran. He was also ordered to pay $16,800 in funeral expenses and more than $9,700 to a state victim's assistance fund.