Marky Ramone, the former drummer for the Ramones, has expressed his belief that the late music producer Phil Spector was innocent of the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson. Spector, who died in prison in 2021 at the age of 81, was convicted of second-degree murder in 2009 and sentenced to 19 years to life.
In an interview with the i Paper, Ramone, born Marc Steven Bell, said Spector told him “the real story and everything that happened” regarding Clarkson's death. “It sounded like he was innocent, with all due respect to the actress, Lana Clarkson,” Bell said. “I have to believe what he told me. Why would he lie to me?”
When it was pointed out that Spector was found guilty, Bell responded: “Well, justice prevailed, and that’s the way it goes. In LA they didn’t get OJ Simpson. They didn’t get Robert Blake. They had, in my opinion, to get Phil to make an example.” Simpson was acquitted of murder in 1995, and Blake was acquitted in 2005 but found liable in civil court.
Bell worked with Spector in 1980 on the Ramones' album End of a Century, a notoriously tense collaboration. He confirmed that Spector brought guns to the studio but denied a rumour that he held the band hostage. “He never pointed a gun at us in the studio,” Bell said, contradicting his late bandmate Dee Dee Ramone's autobiography.
Bell remained close with Spector after the recording, attending parties and supporting him in court during the murder trial. The Ramones, formed in 1974, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. All four original members have since died.
