Entertainment & Culture

Author: anonymDate: 2024-12-11 17:02:52

Cher recounts halting Phil Spector's aggressive actions when he brandished a firearm: 'He couldn't intimidate me'

"We had this really strange relationship,” Cher said about Spector.

Cher witnessed Phil Spector's malevolent nature.

Years before the music producer fatally shot Lana Clarkson at his residence in 2003 — resulting in a 19-year-to-life prison sentence, where he later perished — Spector pointed a gun at the "If I Could Turn Back Time" vocalist when she confronted him about unauthorized music releases.

He knew "he couldn't bully me," Cher informed Yahoo Entertainment regarding the 1974 event.

Cher had been acquainted with Spector for years, initially meeting him in 1962 at age 16. She elaborated in her recently published autobiography — Cher: The Memoir, Part One — that after separating from Sonny Bono, she sought to elevate her solo career and reconnected with the "Wall of Sound" architect. At that time, Spector was producing John Lennon’s Rock 'N' Roll — a compilation of songs from the late ’50s and early ’60s — and enlisted Cher and Harry Nilsson for backing vocals.

Upon arriving at the studio, the former Beatle was departing angrily following a dispute with Spector. To avoid wasted time, Spector requested Cher and Nilsson record vocals for a Martha and the Vandellas track, "A Love Like Yours," for Lennon's later review. The recording was not intended for distribution as Cher and Nilsson were under contract with separate record labels.

Several weeks later, Cher received notification from her record company that Spector had illicitly released the recording in Europe, breaching her contract. A friend drove her to Spector’s L.A. residence to confront him. She recounted greeting him warmly, but questioning his actions given the clear contractual violation. She stated Spector became irate, asserting his authority to act as he pleased.

Cher alleges Spector then retrieved a revolver, previously unnoticed on a billiard table, and spun it on his fingers. Infuriated, she launched into a scathing verbal rebuke, warning him against further interference with her or her music. She stated Spector apologized and she immediately departed. In the car, she recounted the alarming incident to her friend, but felt his actions were for show, not to harm her.

When asked if she had previously shared this account before including it in her book, Cher responded, “I told friends, but not the public. Why would I broadcast that story?”

In her opinion, his submission stemmed from "knowing him in his youth and his erratic behavior," she explained. “I believe he was 21 or 22 and I had an unusual closeness with him because I didn't tolerate his insolence. I simply didn't.”

Cher first encountered Spector, a self-made millionaire by 21, through an early boyfriend, Nino Tempo, a singer and musician employed by Spector at Gold Star Studios. From their introduction in 1962, she refused to tolerate his inappropriate behavior.

“I met him with his best friend [Tempo] and his first words to me [in French] were: ‘Would you sleep with me?’” she remembered.

Cher said Spector underestimated her comprehension of his crude proposition or her response, but she retorted — also in French — “Yes, for money.’ And from that point on, we maintained a peculiar relationship.”

Their paths crossed again shortly after when Cher began dating Bono that same year. He worked on Spector’s production team and frequently brought Cher to the studio, and she consistently resisted Spector's unacceptable conduct.

“Sonny would become so agitated, pleading, ‘Please, please, don't do this. He's my boss,’” Cher said. “But it didn't deter me.”

Spector ultimately provided Cher with her initial musical opportunity. When singer Darlene Love missed a 1963 recording session due to car trouble, Spector asked Cher to substitute as a background vocalist. It was her inaugural recording experience, and while she nearly fainted, she became a regular backup singer for him afterward. She later achieved Grammy, Emmy and Oscar recognition.

In February 2003, Clarkson — a model and actress with minor roles in Scarface and Fast Times at Ridgemont High — was shot and killed at Spector’s home.

A nightclub entertainer at the House of Blues in L.A., she met the producer and agreed to visit his mansion in the L.A. suburb of Alhambra for a drink. An hour later, at 5 a.m., Spector’s chauffeur reported hearing a gunshot and observing Spector exiting the house with a firearm. Spector allegedly informed the driver: “I think I just shot her.” Clarkson’s body was discovered in the entryway of Spector’s home.

Spector later claimed to authorities it was an accidental self-inflicted death, but he was charged with second-degree murder. He underwent two trials — resulting in a hung jury in 2007 — and was convicted in 2009. Both trials included testimony from other women who alleged he threatened them with firearms, including veteran music talent coordinator Dianne Ogden, who stated he pursued her around his house with an Uzi. She fled to her vehicle and never saw him again.

Spector maintained his innocence in Clarkson’s death until his passing in 2021.

Spector was also accused of abuse by his second wife, singer Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes. She recounted in her 1990 autobiography that Spector kept a gold casket in their basement and threatened to kill her if she attempted to leave him. She claimed he confined her in their mansion, inflicting psychological torment, but she escaped barefoot in 1972 with her mother's assistance.

“I understood that if I hadn’t left then, I would have perished there,” she wrote.

Cher: The Memoir, Part One is out now.