Bell Biv Devoe, Jodeci, And More Among Artists Whose Tapes Were Destroyed In The UMG Fire
Last week, we reported that a group of artists, their heirs, and representatives of their estates filed a putative class action lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) over a 2008 fire that destroyed up to 500,000 master recordings in UMG’s archive vaults.
On Tuesday, The New York Times published a follow-up story that included an expanded list of artists whose master recordings were lost in the fire.
Among those artists were Bell Biv Devoe, Jodeci, Blackstreet, Heavy D. & the Boyz, Busta Rhymes, and Common.
Recordings by comedians Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Cosby, and Chris Rock were lost in the fire too.
A historical recording by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was also included. The masters for his album Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution, which was a recording of King’s keynote address given at an A.M.E. church convention, were stored in the backlot vault.
Glennisha Morgan is a Detroit-bred multimedia journalist and writer. She writes about intersectionality, hip-hop, pop culture, queer issues, race, feminism, and her truth. Follow her on Twitter.
