From blink-182 to Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails and Nirvana, a comprehensive list of artists whose master tapes were destroyed in 2008 has been released.
Following reports from earlier in the month when it was confirmed that a 2008 fire at Universal Studios destroyed master tapes from the likes of Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Guns N' Roses and more, The New York Times have compiled a new, comprehensive list of artists whose original works have been lost.
Adding over 700 names to the 100-strong list when the terrible news was originally revealed, this new report documents how the record company stated that "more than 100,000 masters and an estimated 500K song titles had burned", and also how a number of artists – Soundgarden, Hole, Steve Earle, the estate of Tupac Shakur, and Tom Petty’s ex-wife – have since filed a lawsuit seeking “compensatory damages in an amount in excess of $100 million”.
Hole vocalist Courtney Love reportedly commented on the situation via email to The New York Times, writing: “No-one knows for sure yet, specifically what is gone from their estate, their catalog. But for once in a horrible way people believe me about the state of the music business which I would not wish on my worst enemy. Our culture has been devastated, meanwhile UMG is online with cookie recipes and pop, as if nothing happened. It’s so horrible.”
Check out a selection of the rock and metal artists whose tapes were affected in the fire, and check out the full list here. Please note: it's not yet confirmed which masters specifically were destroyed, "nor can it be said categorically that all of these artists did in fact lose masters".
Aerosmith
Audioslave
blink-182
The Damned
The Eagles
Guns N’ Roses
Hole
Jawbreaker
Jimmy Eat World
Limp Bizkit
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Duff McKagan
Meat Loaf
Nine Inch Nails
Nirvana
No Doubt
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Iggy Pop
Primus
Puddle Of Mudd
R.E.M.
Smash Mouth
Sonic Youth
Soundgarden
Spinal Tap
Sublime
Temple Of The Dog
Voïvod
Weezer
Whitesnake
White Zombie
The Who
Neil Young
Rob Zombie
