UMG Fire: New List Reveals Hundreds of Artists Whose Masters Were Lost
The New York Times has unveiled a list of hundreds of artists whose master recordings were destroyed in a 2008 Universal Music Group vault fire.
When the New York Times Magazine initially published their feature “The Day The Music Burned” two weeks ago, a smaller, but still stunning, list of over one hundred artists were named that were affected by the fire.
This new, more comprehensive list comes from multiple documents as part of “Project Phoenix,” which was an effort by UMG to obtain replacement or duplicate copies of master recordings that were lost in the fire. This new list adds over seven-hundred new artists to the ones previously reported.
NYR notes for the new artists unveiled that “…it is not possible to assert definitively which masters were burned in the fire, nor can it be said categorically that all of these artists did in fact lose masters. It also cannot be determined exactly how many of the destroyed masters were primary-source originals.”
Below is just the list of notable rock, alt. rock, classic rock and other influential artists included on “Project Phoenix.”
38 Special
Johnny Ace
Bryan Adams
Aerosmith
Steve Allen
Adam Ant
Louis Armstrong
Asia
Audioslave
Average White Band
Burt Bacharach
Joan Baez
Florence Ballard
Hank Ballard
Count Basie
Beck
Captain Beefheart
Berlin
Chuck Berry
Nuno Bettencourt
Hal Blaine
Blink 182
Blues Traveler
Boston
Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians
Jimmy Buffett
Carol Burnett
T-Bone Burnett
Cab Calloway
Glen Campbell
Belinda Carlisle
Kim Carnes
Karen Carpenter
Richard Carpenter
The Carpenters
Mama Cass
Bobby Charles
Ray Charles
Chubby Checker
Cheech & Chong
Cher
Eric Clapton
Petula Clark
Roy Clark
Merry Clayton
Jimmy Cliff
Patsy Cline
Rosemary Clooney
Joe Cocker
Alice Coltrane
John Coltrane
Stewart Copeland
David Crosby
Crosby & Nash
Johnny Cougar (aka John Cougar Mellencamp)
Counting Crows
Coverdale•Page
Marshall Crenshaw
David Crosby
Bing Crosby
Sheryl Crow
Tim Curry
The Damned
Danny & the Juniors
Rodney Dangerfield
Bobby Darin
Helen Darling
Sammy Davis Jr.
Chris de Burgh
Lenny Dee
Jack DeJohnette
The Dells
Dennis DeYoung
Neil Diamond
Bo Diddley
Willie Dixon
Fats Domino
Jimmy Durante
The Eagles
Steve Earle
Danny Elfman
Duke Ellington
Cass Elliott
John Entwistle
Eminem
Eric B. and Rakim
Don Everly
Extreme
The Fifth Dimension
Ella Fitzgerald
The Flying Burrito Brothers
John Fogerty
The Four Tops
Peter Frampton
Aretha Franklin
Glenn Frey
Judy Garland
Barry Gibb
Dizzy Gillespie
Gin Blossoms
Whoopi Goldberg
Golden Earring
Benny Goodman
Lesley Gore
Grand Funk Railroad
Al Green
Lee Greenwood
Guns N’ Roses
Buddy Guy
Buddy Hackett
Merle Haggard
Bill Haley and His Comets
Heavy D. & the Boyz
Don Henley
Hole
Billie Holiday
Buddy Holly
John Lee Hooker
Stix Hooper
Bob Hope
Humble Pie
Iron Butterfly
Burl Ives
Janet Jackson
Etta James
Elmore James
James Gang
Jimmy Eat World
The Joe Perry Project
Elton John
Al Jolson
Booker T. Jones
Quincy Jones
Tom Jones
The Jordanaires
Kansas
Gene Kelly
B.B. King
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Kingsmen
Gladys Knight and the Pips
Patti LaBelle
Brenda Lee
Peggy Lee
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Liberace
Limp Bizkit
Lisa Loeb
Nils Lofgren
Lyle Lovett
Loretta Lynn
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Gloria Lynne
Moms Mabley
The Mamas and the Papas
Barbara Mandrell
Chuck Mangione
Groucho Marx
John Mayall
Reba McEntire
Duff McKagan
Meat Loaf
Liza Minnelli
Joni Mitchell
The Moody Blues
The Moonglows
Nazareth
Nelson
Rick Nelson & the Stone Canyon Band
Ricky Nelson
Night Ranger
Leonard Nimoy
Nine Inch Nails
Nirvana
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
No Doubt
Terri Nunn
The Oak Ridge Boys
Ric Ocasek
Phil Ochs
Oingo Boingo
The O’Jays
Spooner Oldham
Yoko Ono
Orleans
Ray Parker Jr.
Dolly Parton
Les Paul
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
John Phillips
The Pointer Sisters
The Police
Iggy Pop
Billy Preston
Primus
Puddle Of Mudd
The Ray Charles Singers
Martha Reeves
R.E.M.
Debbie Reynolds
Buddy Rich
Chris Rock
The Roots
Rufus and Chaka Khan
Leon Russell
Mitch Ryder
Tupac Shakur
Shel Silverstein
Smash Mouth
Patti Smyth
Snoop Dogg
Sonic Youth
Sonny and Cher
Soundgarden
Spinal Tap
Squeeze
Stealers Wheel
Steely Dan
Gwen Stefani
Steppenwolf
Cat Stevens
Sting
The Strawberry Alarm Clock
Styx
Sublime
Andy Summers
Supertramp
Temple of the Dog
Tesla
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Big Mama Thornton
Three Dog Night
The Three Stooges
The Tragically Hip
The Tubes
Tanya Tucker
Ike Turner
Conway Twitty
McCoy Tyner
Van Zant
Billy Vaughan
Suzanne Vega
Veruca Salt
Rufus Wainwright
Rick Wakeman
The Wallflowers
Joe Walsh
Was (Not Was)
War
Muddy Waters
Weezer
Mae West
Barry White
Whitesnake
White Zombie
The Who
Johnny Winter
Howlin’ Wolf
Bobby Womack
Bill Wyman
Rusty York
Neil Young
Y & T
Rob Zombie
