plus, only in america. the legacy of dick clark for the generations of superstars he helped create. this is "piers morgan tonight." good evening. you're looking wlif at tiemgz square where dick clark celebrated new year's eve for 37 glorious years. the big story is the death of dick clark, die of a massive heart attack today in a santa monica hospital. he was 82 years old. he is being celebrated a's a pioneer. he was a genius behind american bandstand, making stores of some of the biggest names in the business and the man who rang in america's new year's for decades. listen to his great friend ryan seacrest paying tribute to dick clark on "american idol." >> without dick, a show like this would not be possible. he will be missed greatly. our thoughts and 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 got it, boss now for our "big story." we'll bring in other all-stars, people who knew dick clark better than most. larry is here with me. larry, you knew dick clark for 40, 50 years, an absolute legend of the business. put him in context, historical context. how important was dick clark, do you think? p of well, he was a pioneer. he revolutionized music on television with american band stand. talking before he went on he had blacks and whites dancing together, unheard of. a lot of young people watching said, what? that's crazy. that was crazy then, risk taking. he was involved in so many programs that the public didn't even know about. >> here's the thing. i knew you were responsible for this show alone before i came along. for 7,000 shows. now, dick clark apparently was responsible, in all his guises, for 7,500 thousand hours on television. >> his longevity is amazing. there are so many things he touched as a producer, he owned a radio show. he produced "donny and marie." he produced their show. he was everything. >> if you could bottle the dick clark magic, what would you call it? what was the secret ingredient that he had? >> he was a great generalist the. he could do anything. he was very, very good. you wouldn't go around quoting dick clark. he has no memorable, great moments, but he was kind of everyman. 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 -- not saying you're old -- we could not name the billboard top ten. >> right. but he could. >> he could have named it probably yesterday. >> let me bring in connie francis. you've appeared on many top tens in your years. you've known him since you were 19 years old. what was dick's importance to you and your career and life? >> well, there would have been no career without dick clark so he impacted my life greatly. i would have probably been a doctor, would have been a different -- for a different life. but the interesting thing, piers, that i did not discussion 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 $1 billion. it really was how my it 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 -- >> you think, connie, that in the last few days of his life that he began to realize that actually money, which he had made no intention of wanting to seek lots of money and success, he was quite unashamed about that, and he was very successful, made tens of millions of dollars in his time. dow think in the end he realized that wasn't what was important to his life? >> it was really -- up until i think -- i think i saw him a year and a half ago. i went to visit carrie and dick at their home in malibu. it was the most 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 beautiful place and he said to me -- he was in a wheelchair and he still is the most magnificent mind, the brilliant mind. he said, you know, this small little place, there were several homes, this is worth $75 until. 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 hair dresser carol and she was listening because i had the phone down. she was doing my hair and finally he said, you know, i want to be there with you, connie. i'll be there january 7th. but for some reasons medically i couldn't be there. but he was committed to helping veterans in the last few weeks of his life. last few months of his life. >> connie, let me just bring in -- that's a very touching story. let me bring in donny osmond. donny, you knew dick clark for over 40 years. what i'd first like to ask you is, what was the importance of "american bandstand" to any young musical act in america? >> well, it was the show everybody wanted to be on because it presented their talent, they could become stars, become legends, thanks to dick clark. you know, he had such a great personality, he'd be on television, great businessman as connie was saying. but when you talk to him -- and i've known him ever since i was 12, 13 years old when i had my first number one record i was o "bandstand." he had this ability to treat you as a friend. you know, we can come up with words and larry even said it, ryan seacrest said it, used the word "pioneer." yes, he is. but i'd like to look at it a little different way, piers. who is the next dick clark zm when you think about it, there's a lot of influential people in this world, you being one. you have a voice to the world. you have a lot of influential television shows that present talent out there. but i think you'd be very hard-pressed to find someone to fill dick clark's shoes and what he was able to accomplish, what he was able to do and how he did it and the legacy that he left. you know, you look at it from that perspective, when we say the word "legend," we think about elvis presley and frank sinatra sinatra. but if somebody can't fill your shoes, you're a legend. dick clark is a legend. >> that's a very good point. irreplaceable is the word that springs to mind with dick clark, larry. the importance he had on american popular culture 4 its time and then for the generations that followed. really he is irreplaceable. nobody ever did it quite like dick clark. >> no one did it or as in things as he did. i think seacrest comes the closest in he's a producer, he has television shows, the e! network. he would come the closest to touching it. but there will never be another clark. >> let me bring in gloria's stefan. great sadness at the passing of dick clark. how did you feel when you heard? >> well, of course we were all sad. our family because he was very close to us. he actually had one of my granddogs, one of my dalmatians. he had come after my accident to visit me here in florida, and he had met my dalmatians and he wanted one of them. what i think was most amazing about dick clark is he was a human being. you know, he was one of the top people that you wanted to get your music to and you knew that if he put you on your show you were a success. yes, he produced a lot of things but he produced it because he loved it. you could tell what he was doing was because it was in his heart and soul. and he was real. you know, you meet so many people out there in hollywood and in the industry that, you know, when you meet them they kind of let you down a little bit because you realize that there's something there that's lost in humanity a little bit. dick clark was quite the opposite. he was such an amazing human being, warm, loving, caring, always humble and talking to everyone and just trying to resolve problems. he wasn't problematic in the least. he just tried to do the best for all the artists that he really believed in, and he would let you know when he believed in you. he also loved people that were real, and i think that set him apart a lot. >> great statement actually from the president, barack obama, tonight. he said, michelle and i are saddened to hear about the passing of dick clark. with american bandstand, he introduced decades' worth of viewers to the music of our times. he reshaped the television landscape forever as a creative producer and of course for 40 years we welcomed him into our homes to ring in the new year. but more importantly his groundbreaking achievements was the way he made us feel, as young and vibrant and optimistic as he was. and as we say our final so long to dick clark, america's oldest teenager, our thoughts and prayers to his it family and friends. >> very well said. >> touching statement. >> you know what i was thinking? dick clark with all the fame and money wasn't a limousine guy. dick clark was a regular guy. he was a regular guy. >> there was a lovely quote he said actually that he never lost touch of his love for hot dogs, for going to the ball game, for going to a mall. he sort of kept in touch with the average american, which i suspect enabled him to instinctively have an average american's taste. >> you wouldn't call him mr. clark. he was dick clark. he was one word, dick clark. >> hold that there. we'll take a break. everyone stand by. we'll have more reminisces of the great dick clark after the break. ♪ ♪ wow... ♪ [ female announcer ] sometimes, all you need is the smooth, creamy taste of werther's original caramel to remind you that you're someone very special. ♪ werther's original caramels. i said, there will be a day when music will come in our homes, we'll never see a record, never know anything. and lo and behold, it's here. >> dick clark, an all-american genius, an interview with larry king in 2004. larry is with me, connie fran cis, donny osmond and more. you said prophetic, larry. >> the man stayed in touch with the times. like he knew about the way we would communicate, what would happen. we could never predict -- you and i couldn't say what it will be like in five years. we know it ain't going to be like today. dick knew. >> how many people, of all the people you ever interviewed, had that instinctive gut feel for what the majority of americans would like to see and hear. >> i'd have to think. steve jobs, interviewed him early on. he had it. not many. >> there aren't many. >> that know about tomorrow. boy -- >> a real talent. >> i tell you one thing, if you do know, you're going to be very rich. >> paul anka, you appeared on american bandstand, you knew dick well. put his legacy into perspective for me. >> well, i've known dick for 54 years, and i think all of those topics were touched with my previous friends on his legacy. i think everyone has kind of mounted that. he's first of all a human being, as someone said earlier, has to be accounted for. he was an incredible friend. and i knew him through even adversity. his wife had left him and the paola scandal. he had to restore his integrity. that was the character of the man that would -- when we talked about that, it almost destroyed him and it cost him millions of dollars. where he really got back up on his feet again and created this empire. and that in itself tells you the kind of man that we're talking about here. as someone else touched upon, when you knew him as a friend, the humility that was a lot of continuity in his life and right down to the last time i had lunch with him, it was always amazetion. he was like a brother, the father. he was the guy that never chajed. those kind of people are very rare, and dick was that. first a human being and very grateful for his life. >> donny osmond, you've produced -- you had a show with your sister marie in 1998-2000. it was a dick clark production. so you knew him in many different guises. what everyone is saying about him is he was as nice offscreen as he appeared onscreen. was that your experience 0? >> actually, piers, i had an experience that makes me laugh every time i think about it. he was our producer. he is able to produce peace out of chaos. show business is chaos. marie and i were interviewing this person, i can't remember who it was, but we were both on each other's nerves. i was on her nerves. she was on mine. we came to a commercial break. i look at dick clark who's sitting at the producer's desk behind the camera and i said, stop tape! i take marie behind the wall. now everybody in the studio can hear this conversation. 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 toward 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. he looks at us and says these two words -- now children. and we always 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, i remember interviewing you after the horrific back injury you sustained in a bus accident. it was dick clark that got you back performing. tell me about his powers of pr purr suasion. how was he in that persuasive mode? >> well, i've got to tell you, only dick clark could have talked me into doing that because, you know, twice in my life my knees have knocked, and that was one of them. i thought that was just an expression, but it actually happens. and since it was right after i was coming back from my accident, i thought people were going to believe thai still just couldn't walk, that i was paralyzed. i did that for him because he was always such an incredibly supportive person. ever since we came on scene, he had us on "bandstand," he really loved us and supported everything we did. when he came to me and said, i want you on sh show, i was pretty much still recuperating. i had the accident in march of 1990 and this was january of '91. i was just starting to really feel like i was getting back to normality. and i kept telling him, dick, i'm afraid. i don't know if i'm ready. you know, he just gave me such peace in saying, we're going to take care of you. everyone is going to be fine. people are really dying to have you come back. and i would love it for it to be on our show. we had also won an award, the american music award, for best new group couple of years before that. so he was an amazing person. you know, we're very sad that we have lost him. i know we're going to miss him very especially every new year's eve because we watched him. but he has such a well-lived life. i think that everyone can be very happy that he had that kind of life that he did and that he made such a huge impact on so many lives, both performers and people who watched him on television and listened on radio and everything he did. >> connie francis, i mean, you went through some pretty tough times in your life. there's an extraordinary story you've 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. the first time dick heard about it, he flew in a private plane, and dick didn't like to spend a lot of money, flew a private plane cross-country to the hospital. and he begged on his knees for me to take lithium because i was diagnosed -- actually misdiagnosed with bipolar. another time he came to my home in bel air and had me committed because he thought that's what i needed, to be committed. he has been there for every crisis of my life, and when i was the 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 then in 1977 i lost my voice completely due to some nasal surgery. and dick wasn't buying that. he said, no, it's all in your head, connie. it's in your head. i said, it's not. and i'll show you the doctor's reports, it's not. he said, yeah, it is. he said, fly to l.a. we'll go to the studio, and you do one line at a time. i don't care if you do a hundred takes. then we'll put it all together and you can lip-sync on the show. i said, that's cheating. i'm not lip-syncing. you know how much your public is dying to see you? you've got to do the show, connie. so that's what we did. 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. >> the point is he gave you that confidence. that's a very powerful story, thank you. >> but it was dick's reaction. it was a moment in tv history, his reaction to that. that was what was wonderful. he was amazing. >> thank you, connie. just touch on that, larry. he clearly had great persuasive powers. he was a great showman. but he also had a very caring side and also had an ability to give a lot of very insecure performers, for whatever reason, the confidence to perform. we saw that with gloria, connie. what was it about him that enabled him to persuade people? >> he was an everyman. you know, he was, as someone said, he was your uncle, he was your brother, he was your kid brother, he was your older brother. that great line to donny, now children, that's a dick clark line. and so he made you feel better about -- and he could be very persuasive. i almost left the radio network i was with to join his, and he just -- i couldn't do it. it was just a contractual thing. he just looked at me and said, you're not coming? you're not coming? he was sweet. he was genuine. >> what do you think america has lost today? >> they 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. >> that's very true. thank you, larry. thank you also to connie, donny, and gloria and paul. we'll be back after the break with more memories from other people that knew dick clark very well. >> dick clark was a great friend of mine. he lived in one of my buildings for years in new york. he was just a real icon. i would watch "american bandstand" and i would also watch every new year's eve. dick clark was the one. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. like in a special ops mission? 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