Phil Spector

Who is Phil Spector?

Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer, songwriter, and the originator of the "Wall of Sound" production method. In later years, he gained infamy as the subject of two trials for murder and a second-degree conviction.

Spector was a pioneer of the 1960s girl-group sound, and produced more than twenty-five Top 40 hits from 1960 to 1965, at the height of his career, writing or co-writing many of them. Among his famous girl groups were the Ronettes and the Crystals. Spector later worked with artists including Ike and Tina Turner, John Lennon and the Ramones with similar acclaim. He produced the Beatles' album Let It Be, and the Grammy Award-winning Concert for Bangladesh by former Beatle George Harrison.

For his contributions to the music industry, Spector was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 as a nonperformer. In 1997, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #63 on their list of the "Greatest Artists of All Time". The 1965 song "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", produced and co-written by Spector for the Righteous Brothers, is listed by BMI as the song with the most U.S. airplay in the 20th century.