plus, only in america, the legacy of dick clark for the generation of superstars that he helped create. this is piers morgan tonight. good evening. you're looking live at times square where dick clark separated music with america for 47 glorious years. our big story is of course the death of dick clark, the music icon who died of a massive heart attack at the santa monica hospital. dick clark was much more than that, he was a genius behind "american bandstand." listen to his great friend ryan seacrest paying tribute on tonight's "american idol." >> we are sad to announce the passing of my dear friend, dick clark. without dick, a show like this would not exist. he will be missed greatly. our thoughts and our prayers go out to his family. i know that he's in a better place, saying, hey, let's get on with the show, okay? you've got it, boss. now for our big story, i want to bring in other all-stars, people who knew dick clark better than most. larry king is here with me in the studio. connie frances at her home in california, donny osmond and paul anka. larry, let me start with you. you knew dick clark for 40, 50 years, an absolute legend of the business. put it in historical context, how important was dick clark, do you think? >> he was a pioneer, in the early days of television, with "american bandstand" he revolutionized music. he had blacks and whites dance together, unheard of, a lot of young people watching were saying, what? that's crazy. that was crazy then to put that on. risk taking. then he was involved in so many programs that the public didn't even know. >> i knew that you were responsible for this show alone before i came along. 7,000 shows. dick clark apparently was responsible in all these guises for 7,500 shows on television. there's so many things he touched as a producer, as a businessman, he owned a radio network, quiz shows, television talk shows, he produced donnie and marie. you're going to have donnie on. >> if you could bottle the dick clark magic, what would you would have? >> he could do anything, he was very, very good. you wouldn't go around quoting dick clark, there was no memorable great moments, but he was kind of every man. he was there, he entered the room well. the camera liked him. he was gentle, he was kind, he was smart, he was revolutionary in music. for example, even as he aged, most people get older, you and i, i'm not saying you're old, we could not name the billboard top ten. >> but he could? >> he could name it. i'm sure he could have named it yesterday. >> let me bring in connie frances, you knew dick clark since you were 19 years old. what was dick's importance to you, your career and your life? >> well, there would have been no career without dick clark. so he impacted my life greatly. i would have probably been a doctor. it would have been a far different life. but the interesting thing, piers, that i did not discuss with the woman i discussed the show with this afternoon, was the last two weeks of dick's life and where his head was during that period of time. how little the acquisition of money had become to him. because he was worth well over a billion. it really was how my desire to help veterans, wanted it to become his desire too. and finally, he was going to join with me in that effort. starting january 17th in california. when i was being honored by somebody else. >> do you think, connie, in the last few days of his life, he began to realize that actually money, that he had made intention of wanting to seek lots of money and success, he was quite unashamed about that, and he was very successful, he made tens of millions of dollars in his time. do you think in the end he realized that wasn't what was important in his life. >> it was up until, i think i saw him a year and a half ago, i went to visit carey and dick in their home. it was so magnificent, i can't even call it an estate. it's like a lot of different estates, i think it has to be in different zip codes, it's so magnificent and i looked about this magnificent place, and he said to me and he still had this magnificent mind, this great brilliant mind. he said this is worth $75 million, the acquisition of money was always very important to dick. but the last couple of weeks it didn't mean a thing to him and i wanted something else to become important to him. and i remember i was with my hairdresser carol, and she was listening because i had the phone down and she was doing my hair and finally he said, i want to be there with you january 7th, but for some reason medically i couldn't be there. but he was committed to helping veterans in the last few months of his life. >> connie, let me just bring in -- yeah, it's a very touching story. let me bring in donny osmond, donny you knew dick clark for 40 years. what was the importance of "american bandstand" to anybody in america? >> it was the show that everybody wanted to be on because they could be stars, they could become legends thanks to dick clark. he was such an amazing -- he had such a great personality, a great businessman. but when you talk to him, he always had this ability to teach you as a friend. we can come up with words and larry even said it, ryan seacrest said it, he was a wonderful pioneer. he was that, but i like to look at it a little differently. who is the next dick clark? i mean when you think about it, there's a lot of influential people in the world, you being one, you have a voice of the world. there's a lot of influential television shows that represent talent out there. but i think you would be hard pressed to find someone to fill dick clark's shoes, what he was able to accomplish and how he did and the legacy that he lived. when you look at it from that perspective, when you say the word legend. dick clark was a legend. >> irreplaceable is the word that springs to mind with dick clark. the importance that he had on american popular culture for its time and for the generations that followed, really he is irreplaceable. >> or as many things he did, i think seacrest has come close, he has television shows, the e-network, but he has come closest to touching, but there will never be another dick clark. >> like many people in the business today, great sadness at the passing of dick claire, how did you feel when you heard? >> we were all sad, our family because he was very close to us. he actually had one of my grand dogs, one of my dalmatians, he had come after my accident to visit me here in florida and he had met my dalmation and wanted one of them. what i think was most amazing about dick clark was that he was a human being. he was one of the top people that you wanted to get your music to and you knew if he put you on his show, you were a success. and yes, he produced a lot of things but he produced it because he loved it. and you could tell that what he was doing was because it was in his heart and soul and he was real. you meet so many people out in the industry that when you meet them, they kind of let you down a little bit. you realize that there's something there that lost its humanity a little bit, and dick clark was quite the opposite, he was such an amazing human being, warm, loving, caring, always humble and talking to everything and just trying to solve problems, he wasn't problematic in the least he just tried to do the best for all the artists that he believed in and he also loved people that were real, and that set him apart. >> great statement from the president barack obama, he said i was saddened to hear about the passing of dick clark with "american bandstand." he reshaped the television landscape forever in 40 years we welcomed him into our homes to celebrate the new year. but more important was his groundbreaking -- our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends, which far more than he knew. larry, a very -- >> dick clark with all the fame and all the money, wasn't a limousine guy. dick clark was a regular guy. he was a regular guy. >> there was a lovely quote, he never lost touch of his love for hot dogs, of going to the ball game, going to the mall. he stayed in touch with the average american and you could say he had an average american's taste. >> you wouldn't call him mr. clark. he was dick clark. >> let's take a break. everybody, stand by. we'll come back with more reminisces of dick clark after the break. ♪ i come home in the morning light ♪ ♪ my mother says when you going to live your life right ♪ ♪ oh, mama dear, we're not the fortunate ones ♪ ♪ and girls they want to have fun ♪ with minimal collateral damage. but rather than neutralizing enemies in their sleep, you'd be targeting stocks to trade. well, that's what trade architect's heat maps do. they make you a trading assassin. trade architect. td ameritrade's empowering, web-based trading platform. trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up to $600 when you open an account. 15 years ago, larry, i gave a speech. i don't know why i got on a soapbox, but i said there is a day that music will come into our homes via a box, we'll never see a record. and lo and behold it's here. >> exactly what made dick clark an all-american genius. larry's back with me. glorious estefan and paul anka will join us as well. you just used the word prophetic. why do you say that? >> the guy knew, he stayed in touch with the times. but he knew about the way he could communicate, you and i couldn't say what it's going to be like in five years. dick knew. >> of all the people you ever interviewed had that distinctive gut feeling for what the majority of americans would like to see or hear? >> steve jobs, interviewed him early on, he had it. not many. >> there aren't many. >> that know about tomorrow. i tell you one thing, if you do know, you're going to be very rich. >> paul anka, let me come to you here. you appeared on "american bandstand." you knew dick very well. put dick's legacy into perspective for me. >> i knew dick for 54 years. his legacy i think everyone has really -- first of all as a human being, as someone said earlier, has to be accounted for. he was an incredible friend and i knew him through, you know, even adversity. you know, he had to restore his integrity. i think it it almost destroyed him. it cost him millions of dollars but he really got back up on his feet again and created this empire. that's the kind of man that we're talking about here. when you knew him as a friend, the humility that was a lot of continuity in his life. right down to the last time i had lunch with him, it was always amazing to me. he was the brother he was like the father, the guy that never changed. those kind of people that are indigenous to our -- >> donny osmond, you had a show you produced with your sister marie from 1998 to 2000. and it was a dick clark production show. so you knew him in many different guises, what is everyone saying about him, was he as nice offscreen that he appeared to be on screen? >> it makes me laugh every time i think about it. he was our producer and he was able to create peace out of chaos and you know showbiz can be nothing but chaotic. and marie and i were interviewing this person, but we both were on each other's nerves, i was on marie's nerves, she was on mine. we come to a commercial break, i look at dick clark and i said stop tape. i take marie behind the wall, now everybody in the studio can hear this conversation. and we proceed to rip each other's heads off. and we're just yelling at each other because we were just on each other's nerves. around the corner comes dick clark, he comes walking towards us and this man, he knew how to diffuse any situation. he walks up to us, puts one hand on marie's shoulder, one hand on mine and he looks at us two and says these two words, now children. and we all realized how childish we were. but dick had the most unbelievable way of bringing everybody back together and making everybody friends. and creating peace out of chaos. >> i love that. gloria estefan, let me bring you back because you and i remember this, i interviewed you at the time after you recovered from the horrific back injury that you sustained in a bus accident. and it was dick clark that got you back performing. tell me about his powers of persuasion. what did he do, how was he in that persuasive mode? >> i tell you, only dick clark could have talked me into doing that, because twice in my life my knees have knocked, and that was one of them. i thought that was just an expression but it actually happened. right after coming back from my accident, i thought people were going to believe that i still couldn't walk, that i was paralyzed. but i did that for him because he was always such a supportive incredible human he had us on bandstand and he really loved us and supported everything we did. and when he came to me and said i want you to come on this show, i was still pretty much recuperating because i had had the accident in march of 1990 and this was january of 1991. i was starting to feel like i was getting back to normality. i kept saying, dick, i don't know if i'm ready. he just gave me such peace in saying, we're going to take care of you. people are really dying to have you come back and i would love it for it to be on our show. because we had won the american music award for best new group a couple of years before that. he was an amazing person. and we are very sad that we have lost him. we're going to miss him every new year's eve. but he had such a well i think that everyone can be very happy that he had that kind -lived life. of life that he did and that he made such a huge impact on so many lives, both performers and of people that watched all the great stuff he did on television and radio and thing he did. >> connie frances, you went through some pretty tough times in your life and there's a story you told where dick clark actually flew across the country to help you on one occasion, tell me about that? >> yes, i had during the '80s, actually 17 involuntary commitments to mental institutions and the first time dick heard about it, he flew on a private plane and dick didn't like to spend a lot of money, he flew in a private plane across the country to the hospital. and he begged on his knees for me to take lithium because i was diagnosed -- actually misdiagnosed as bipolar. and he pleaded with me to take lithium. and another time he came to my home in bel air and had me committed because he thought that's what i needed to be, to be committed. he has been there for every crisis of my life. and when i was a victim of rape in 1974, i did not appear publicly for seven years. and in 1977, he pleaded with me to play his westchester theater and there was no way i was going to do that. and in 1977, i lost my voice completely due to some nasal surgery and dick wasn't buying that. he said, it's all in your head, connie. it's all in your head. and i said, it's not. i'll show you the doctor's report. he said, it's not. i said, yeah, it is. come to l.a., we'll go to the studio and you do one line at a time and you can do it one line at a time and we'll get -- i don't care if you do 100 takes and then we'll put it all together and you can lip sync on the show. i said, that's cheating. i'm not doing that. it had to be 200 takes. we put this thing together. it was a reasonable facsimile of my voice. not that great. but it was a wonderful response from the audience that i will never forget. >> he helped you regain your confidence. >> yes, he did. but it it was dick's reaction -- it was a moment in tv history, his reaction to that. that was what was important. >> thank you, connie. you just touched on that, larry. he had clearly great persuasive powers but he also had a very caring side and he also tended to give a lot of insecure performers confidence to perform. what was it about him that enabled him to persuade people they had the confidence? >> he was an every man. he was your uncle, your brother, your kid brother, older brother. that great line to donny, "children," that's a dick clark line. so he made you feel better -- he could be very persuasive. i almost left the radio network to join his. i couldn't do it. it was a contractual thing. and he just looked at me and he said, you're not coming? you're not coming? it was sweet. he was genuine. >> what do you think america has lost today? >> they've lost an institution. when these people leave us, they leave a hole that doesn't get filled. he's just -- he's going to be remembered a long, long, long time. this business owes him a debt. >> i think that's very true. larry king, thank you very much. and thank you also to connie francis, gloria estefan and paul anka. we'll be back after the break with more people who knew dick clark very well. >> dick clark was a great friend of mine. he lived in my building for many years in new york. i would watch american band stand. dick clark was the one. 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[ female announcer ] get the travelocity guarantee anywhere when you book with our new app. you'll never roam alone. one of today's most powerful vocal sounds and wouldn't you know it, they are in philadelphia. the multiaward winning boyz 2 men. ♪ just see that i need you near and away from me at all times ♪ ♪ my feelings are there ♪ that i won't let go >> boyz 2 men on -- the commodores, a supergroup with lionel ritchie also had some memorable performances on "bandstand." you said you sounded in key. is this an unusual event? >> it happens more than people think, the off-key thing. >> what does it mean to you to see dick clark introducing you as a group? how big a moment is that for any musical act? >> think i appreciate it now more than i did then. because back then, we were still very much kids and everything at that time, our success came very fast. so everything just came at our heads, so it was one of those things where, yes, dick clark is awesome, we know who he is, we know how important he is, but it was just more about just going out there and singing, but now looking back and seeing all of the things that mr. clark has done for us and so many other people, i realize how great those moments, watching them really are. >> william king, i mean one of the key things that i felt that dick clark did, which has probably been underplayed today, amid all the tributes, was that he took an incredible gamble in bringing racial integration to american television sets. he really did go out on a limb, you know, he had the first interracial audiences dancing together. he interviewed young black teenagers on his show, all this stuff at the time something that may cause advertisers in the south to run a mile. could be damaging, maybe career damaging. tell me about that side of dick clark. >> i'll tell you this, we won one year the pop award on the ama, american music awards. and i believe the bee gees won the r&b award that year. that shows you right there that that was something that i think he felt really good about, that he was probably the pioneer of pop music as we know it today. and that he -- it was all diverse to him. you know, he just brought all the music to everybody all the time. and i think he got a great joy out of that. >> actually just had a statement from your commodores colleague, lionel ritchie. he says, dick clark was one of the mentors. he understood artist try as well as the dna of artists. dick introduced me to network television and gave me the confidence to pursue and execute my career goals. for that, i will always be thankful. i will miss him dearly. that says it all, there, lionel, doesn't it? >> i remember the time he first met and he kept saying gentlemen, gentlemen, dick clark would say to us. every time we did his show, i think we did his show a