Dolly Parton, Blink-182, Olivia Newton-John, Bryan Adams and hundreds more have been added to the list of artists affected by the devastating 2008 Universal Studios fire that wiped out priceless original studio masters.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that Elton John, Nirvana, REM, Tupac, No Doubt and more had works destroyed during the event, and now The New York Times is reporting that more than 700 other acts were also affected, with the aforementioned names joined by Neil Young, Limp Bizkit, Cher, Jimmy Eat World, Weezer and more.
In 2008, a fire tore through a vault on the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood, reportedly burning more than 100,000 masters (an estimated 500,000 or so songs) owned by Universal Music Group, but at the time of the fire, the full extent of damage was not revealed.
The New York Times is also reporting that Hole, Soundgarden, Steve Earle and the estates of Tupac and Tom Petty have launched a class action lawsuit against Universal Music Group over the incident.
The lawsuit, which is seeking $100 million in damages, alleges that those affected weren’t made aware their masters had been destroyed, while also claiming Universal failed in its contractual obligations to protect the masters and stating they should have shared any settlements from the fire with artists who had work lost.
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