Marky Ramone, the legendary drummer for punk icons The Ramones, has revealed that the late, convicted murderer Phil Spector personally told him he was innocent of killing actress Lana Clarkson. Ramone stated he feels compelled to believe the disgraced producer's account.
‘I Have to Believe What He Told Me’
In a new interview, the musician, born Marc Steven Bell, disclosed details of private conversations with Spector. Spector died in prison in 2021 at age 81 from Covid-19, while serving a 19-years-to-life sentence for Clarkson's 2003 murder. His 2007 trial had ended in a mistrial before a 2009 retrial found him guilty.
"He told me the real story and everything that happened," Bell told the i Paper. "It sounded like he was innocent, with all due respect to the actress, Lana Clarkson. But that’s his story. Do I know if it’s true or not? I don’t know. I have to believe what he told me. Why would he lie to me?"
Spector ‘Made an Example Of’, Claims Ramone
When reminded of Spector's definitive guilty verdict, Bell offered a theory rooted in other high-profile Los Angeles court cases. He suggested the justice system needed a conviction after failing to secure others.
"Well, justice prevailed, and that’s the way it goes," he said. "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."
Bell referenced the 1995 acquittal of OJ Simpson for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, and the 2005 acquittal of actor Robert Blake for his wife's murder, though Blake was later found liable in a civil case.
Studio Sessions, Guns, and Contradicting Memories
The Ramones worked closely with Phil Spector in 1980 to record their fifth album, End of the Century. The sessions were notoriously fraught, with Spector's perfectionist and controlling methods causing major tension within the band.
Bell confirmed the long-reported detail that Spector brought guns to the studio—the producer once held a gun to Leonard Cohen's neck—but denied a specific, dramatic rumour. "He had guns with him," Bell said. "But he never pointed a gun at us in the studio."
This assertion directly contradicts the account of his late bandmate, bassist Dee Dee Ramone. In his autobiography, Dee Dee wrote that Spector once pointed a gun at his head and forced the band back into his piano room.
Despite the turbulent recording experience, Bell remained friends with Spector for decades. He attended parties at Spector's home and even went to support him in court during his murder trial. The Ramones, formed in Queens, New York in 1974, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. All four original members had died by 2014.
Marky Ramone is currently touring the UK, with dates beginning on 21 January.
