DISGRACELAND

DISGRACELAND

You know the myths. You’ve seen the biopics. But if you’re the kind of music fan who craves the rest of the story—the stuff they buried or cleaned up for streaming and theaters—this is your podcast. DISGRACELAND is the award-winning show that reveals the deeply human, highly dramatic, true crime–fueled chaos behind legendary musicians like Amy Winehouse, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sean “Diddy” Combs, the Grateful Dead, Blondie, and more. While we dig into the dark side, we do so with reverence for the artists—and an understanding of the extreme highs, lows, and personal costs that come with fame and making great art. This is music history like you’ve never heard it—edge-of-your-seat stories exploding with drama and the kind of information that’ll make you dangerous at dinner parties. New, fully scripted and sound-designed episodes drop every Tuesday. On Thursdays, we hand the mic to you—and feature listener voicemails, texts, and emails in our interactive bonus episodes. And on Fridays, we revisit the wildest stories from our 250+ episode archive with “Rewind” drops that’ll transport you back into music history’s most entertaining moments. DISGRACELAND is not a journalistic podcast—it’s an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. Certain dialogue and scenes are occasionally fictionalized for dramatic effect, as is common in scripted entertainment based on real stories. Sources and credits for each episode are available at www.disgracelandpod.com. To hear every episode ad-free—and get access to exclusive monthly episodes, weekly bonus content, and stories too wild for the main feed—become a Disgraceland All Access member at www.disgracelandpod.com/membership.

Episodes

August 9, 2025 39 mins
Britney Spears’ 13-year conservatorship was an arrangement so strict and unfeeling that it left her without any control of her career, loopy on lithium, and completely silenced for the sake of seeing her sons and boyfriend. As Britney suffered in silence, she worked nearly non-stop, generating more hits — and revenue — so her father could claim his cut of the profits. But after hundreds of shows in Las Vegas and $137 million in box...
Mark as Played
No musician owned pop music quite like Britney Spears at the turn of the century. After graduating from Mississippi tween queen to full-fledged American superstar, her fame exploded at a time when tabloids circled celebrities like prey. 30 to 45 predatory paparazzi would follow Britney’s every move during 12 to 14 hour shifts, eager to document the collapse of her marriage and social circle. As her public image crumbled, it’s no wo...
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From the Beatles to Nirvana to Pulp Fiction and Friends, every decade used to bring a cultural reset—new sounds, new voices, new aesthetics that changed the way we dressed, talked, and thought. But for the past 25 years, that cycle stopped. Why? In this week’s After Party, Jake takes us back to a time when artists shaped the culture—and breaks down how corporatization, consolidation, and the algorithm killed the artist as changema...
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Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay helped take hip-hop global, but behind the decks was a man under pressure – fiercely loyal yet financially strapped, and secretly entangled in a dangerous world he couldn’t spin his way out of. So when the music industry turned cold and the bills stacked up, Jay made choices that brought the streets back to his doorstep. This is the true story behind his murder: a tangled web of old friends, bad drug deals,...
Mark as Played
Run DMC is directly responsible for elevating hip hop to previously unimagined heights. They took rap music into an entirely different direction and helped mainstream the genre. They were beloved as musicians, innovators, and people – none more than their DJ, Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, which makes understanding his senseless murder near impossible. Who killed Jam Master Jay and why? And why are there literally zero suspects whe...
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Jay Z’s career defies easy categorization. His artistry and business sense are as influenced by his past career as a drug dealer as they are anything else. Jay Z has reached unprecedented heights as an entertainer and an entrepreneur, and it almost never happened. All because of a stabbing. A stabbing that was influenced by that same street hustle that created “Jay Z." To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at ...
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This week in the After Party, Jake looks further into the CASSM (Corporate Algorithmic Studio Storytelling Machine) and explores the reasons behind the sanitized versions of music history that are served up everywhere but in Disgraceland. Plus, an update on the developments in the California wildfire benefit story, and your voicemails and DMs! On Tuesday, we're bringing you part 2 of our story on hip hop legends Run-DMC and Jake...
Mark as Played
Mark Lanegan was grunge’s darkest secret – a gravel-voiced hellraiser who ran dope for Kurt Cobain, scared Liam Gallagher into quitting Oasis, and nearly lost his arm (and his mind) chasing the next high. He brawled his way out of a dead-end town, made as many enemies as friends in the music industry, and somehow kept singing through it all. From crack dens to concert halls, his life was pure rock ‘n roll noir – violent, haunted, a...
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Ozzy Osbourne, along with his bandmates in Black Sabbath, invented heavy metal, and throughout Ozzy’s post-Sabbath solo career he would invent new, self-destructive forms of sabotage. Arrested at an early age for breaking and entering, Ozzy Osbourne refused to conform to societal norms and common decency. He would go on to be arrested numerous times and escape too many near-death experiences to recount, including a plane crashing i...
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Black Sabbath are solely responsible for conjuring the diabolical power of heavy metal. When guitarist Tony Iommi lost his fingertips as a teenager, he turned to a less painful style of playing— a style that produced a new, genre-defining type of gloom and heaviness. The band climbed through the seven circles of British podunk hell to international rock star success, but the lore of their dark imagery compelled the freaks to flood ...
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This week, Jake looks into some possible malfeasance related to the proceeds of a benefit concert for the victims of the LA fires and shares his thoughts on the passing of the legendary Ozzy Osbourne. Plus, your voicemails and DMs on the most punk country artists. On Tuesday, we're bringing you our episode on Screaming Trees' Mark Lanegan, and Jake wants to know: Which singer/songwriters are deserving of greater recognition? Sha...
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July 23, 2025 1 min
 …the Hollywood and true crime spinoff from the award winning music and true crime podcast, DISGRACELAND, and the newest expansion from the folks at Double Elvis. The most dramatic non-fiction stories ever heard come from the world of entertainment. Specifically the dark side of entertainment. The true crime stories from Hollywood; the mysterious death of Brittany Murphy. The vicious, real-life murder that inspired David Lynch’s...
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Waylon Jennings’ musical career began with tragedy. On tour as the bass player for his friend Buddy Holly, Waylon gave up his seat on the tiny plane that, just hours later, crashed, killing Buddy and three others. That experience alone nearly put an end to Waylon’s musical dreams. But he continued, persevering by doing only the things he wanted to do – which included hiding his pill stash from his roommate Johnny Cash, hiding his c...
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Robin Williams’ manic mind moved at such a breakneck speed that cocaine had the opposite effect than it had on most other people: it slowed him down. Robin’s primary addiction, however, wasn’t cocaine. He was addicted to the dopamine rush of being on a stage, where he could let his mind run wild with free association, and be rewarded with uproarious laughter. He was addicted to proving himself as a dramatic actor, even if that mean...
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Pink Floyd’s original frontman, Syd Barrett, did so much LSD that he experienced a mental breakdown just as the band began to achieve mainstream success. His drug use began as mind-altering inspiration for his art, but quickly became a coping mechanism for the demands of commercial success. He became paralyzed in front of television cameras. He detuned his guitar until it was literally unplayable and refused to perform alongside hi...
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This week, Jake dives deeper into Nikki Sixx (Mötley Crüe, Part 2), calls out the Corporate Algorithmic Studio Storytelling Machine (CASSM), and explains why he’s suddenly obsessed with Jimmy Buffett. Plus: Jeff Buckley, Oasis, and your voicemails and DMs. On Tuesday, we're bringing you our episode on Waylon Jennings, and Jake wants to know: Who was the most punk rock country singer? Share your thoughts at 617-906-6638, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...
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He was broke, strung out, and cleaning up other people's puke. Then he got stiffed by a gangster with ties to the infamous Wonderland Murders. A few years later, he was dead on the floor – for the second time. This is the high-speed tale of Nikki Sixx, a rock 'n roll original who came back to life more than once to take his place as the poster boy for hair metal's wildest and wettest dreams. This isn't a comeback story – It's a res...
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Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil totaled his Ford Pantera on a beer run, and in the process took the life of his friend Razzle Dingley, drummer for Hanoi Rocks. Bassist Nikki Sixx survived multiple heroin overdoses. Guitarist Mick Mars walked away from a blackout drunk drowning and drummer Tommy Lee lived through his own Caligula-like Sunset Strip sexcapades. Mötley Crüe, a degenerate band of death-cheating rock gods has us asking, ...
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This week in the after party, Jake looks at the bands that could've been huge, but never were, and hears from you on the subject. Plus, Jake talks about the challenge of writing the upcoming Brian Wilson episode and dishes on his surprisingly growing admiration for Jimmy Buffet. On Tuesday, we're bringing you part 2 of our Motley Crue episode, focusing on Nikki Sixx. Jake wants to know: Was Motley Crue the greatest hair metal ba...
Mark as Played
A teenage bass-playing f*ck-up prodigy. A big brother in an ill-fitting bodysuit on national television. A drummer playing chicken with the cops on his motorcycle. And one of the greatest singer-songwriters to ever pick up a guitar and stumble towards a microphone. These were the Replacements: shambolic and chaotic, just like the best rock ‘n roll often is. In 1986, the Minneapolis quartet delivered a legendary performance on Satur...
Mark as Played

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