Ronnie Spector's legendary music career began with The Ronettes' hit "Be My Baby." The iconic song was the first produced by music business icon Phil Spector.
Five years later, Ronnie and Phil were married. They looked like a lovely high-profile couple from the outside, but behind the walls of their Beverly Hills estate, Ronnie felt imprisoned.
She told Inside Edition in 1991, "The gates were up and the barbed wire … I found myself in a prison. I couldn't get out." Phil warned her that if she left, he'd have her killed.
Ronnie was rarely allowed to leave their home. When she did, Phil would have her drive with an inflatable doll that looked like him. After six years of the marriage, Ronnie knew she had to get out and tried figuring out what that would look like. It was then that Phil came home with twin boys, presented as her birthday present.
Ronnie knew better and saw it as a tactic by Phil to keep her from leaving. Six months later, she made the difficult decision to run for it anyway, leaving barefoot. She lost custody of the children, who sadly grew up under similar conditions, which they described as like a prison.
Phil's reign of terror over those in his life ended in 2009, when he was convicted of the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson and sentenced to 19 years in prison. He died in January 2021 of COVID-19 complications while imprisoned.
Ronnie died on January 12, 2022, at 78 years old, after a short battle with cancer. She is survived by husband Jonathan Greenfield and their sons Austin Drew and Jason Charles.
