Some music from top shelf artists may be gone forever.
Half a million master recordings from artists like Aerosmith, Elton John, Nirvana, and Tupac Shakur may have been destroyed in a decade-old fire. The “New York Times” reports that decades of songs from Universal Musical Group were lost in a blaze that burned through a vault at Universal Studios Hollywood in 2008. it destroyed the “King Kong” ride and what the company said was a storage area that housed copies of old works. The New York Times says the blaze also ripped through an archive housing treasured and classic audio recordings dating back to the 1940s.
The newspaper cites a confidential report from 2009 as saying the loss was about 500-thousand song titles. Artists possibly affected by the fire include Ray Charles, Neil Diamond, Mary J. Blige and Janet Jackson. Music from Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby and other legends may have also been lost.
Universal Music Group has disputed the accuracy of the Times report.
Source: New York Times