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Wrangling with Abba, risking jail for the Stone Roses … the lawyer behind pop’s big spats
John Kennedy sparred with the Swedes over Mamma Mia! and took on the Rolling Stones for Richard Ashcroft – he tells us why he’s still arguing with Bob Geldof after 40 years
musical, which has been seen by 70 million people to date across various productions – despite an initially frosty meeting with Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson that nearly scuppered all investment talks. Photograph: Piers Allardyce/ShutterstockAs his memoir has it, Kennedy also squared up to Richard Branson whose Virgin Megastore chain was stalling on paying UMG the £10m it owed for records sold through its shops. As Blur were erupting as a commercial force in the mid 1990s, Kennedy was tasked by the band with renegotiating their Parlophone/EMI contract, seeking to increase their album advances and royalty rates.
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