DISGRACELAND

DISGRACELAND

Musicians. Movie stars. Mayhem. Murder. DISGRACELAND is the award-winning podcast that tells the unbelievable but true stories from the dark side of entertainment history. Rockstars getting away with murder and behaving very badly. Actors engulfed in scandal. Pop stars plotted against and terrorized. Taylor Swift escaping her stalkers. Jerry Lee Lewis allegedly murdering his wife. Brittany Murphy’s suspicious death. Big Lurch, the hip hop star who ate his roommate. The assassination of John Lennon. The Grateful Dead, the CIA, the LSD that turned on the USA, and the real reason Neil Young gave Charles Manson his motorcycle. Robert Downey Jr.’s redemptive rise from addiction. Anthony Bourdain’s destructive lust for life. The true crime stories that inspired Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska and the serial killer inspired by AC/DC’s Highway To Hell. Welcome to DISGRACELAND, where these stories and more will grip you to the edge of your seat and cause you to binge episode after episode. DISGRACELAND publishes new, fully scripted, and sound-designed episodes every Tuesday and bonus episodes featuring listener voicemails, texts, and emails on Thursdays. DISGRACELAND is not a journalistic podcast. It is an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. Certain dialogue and scenes are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes, as they are in most scripted entertainment based on true events. Sources and credits for each episode are available at www.disgracelandpod.com . To listen to DISGRACELAND ad-free and get access to an exclusive monthly episode, weekly bonus content, and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at www.disgracelandpod.com/membership.

Episodes

January 17, 2025 31 mins
In the 1970s, the world regarded the Rolling Stones as an insular band of hedonistic and glamorous pansexual junkies. But all of the trouble they’d stirred up during the ’60s and early ’70s would be dwarfed by the mess they would cause in Canada in 1977. Up until that point, the band’s money and collective luck had been enough to fend off destruction. But the scandal they embroiled themselves in touched the highest levels of govern...
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This week, Jake wrestles again with the idea that an artist whose work he admires may, in fact, be an a**hole. Plus, a listener's story of rock and roll animalism reignites a dormant memory for Jake! On Tuesday we're bringing you an episode on the one and only Beastie Boys, a band who melded their eclectic influences like no one else, and Jake wants to know: What musician has influenced you the most? Which artists have left their m...
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Before Bill Murray was busting ghosts and living in a loop of deja vu, he was a drug-dealing premed student with a knack for comedy. When he was caught with five bricks of pot at the airport, his career in medicine came crashing down, forcing him to make a living with his smart mouth. His obsession to rise above “medium talent” brought him to volatile blows with musicians, fellow actors, and even himself. Yet in his cockiest moment...
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The night before Jerry Lee Lewis’ fifth wife died, she made a phone call to her mother. She told her that she was thinking of leaving the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, but that he wouldn’t let her. She also made a second call—this one to the sister of her high school sweetheart, making plans for the sister to come take her away from Jerry Lee later that month. Then … in mid-sentence the phone went dead. The next day, Mrs. Jerry Lee Lewis ...
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Who is the most hedonistic entertainer from throughout history? Hint: his name might rhyme with “D. Piddy." Caligula is blushing, and your voicemails, texts, DMs, and more. On Tuesday we're bringing you an episode on comedy legend Bill Murray, and Jake wants to know: What's your favorite Bill Murray performance, on or off screen? Tell Jake at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod. For more great Di...
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How does a music mogul satiate himself when he’s rich, famous, and can have whatever he wants? When he compares himself to gangster-pimp-king-hustlers from the past? When he’s one of the most powerful men in the music industry? The details behind the Cassie Ventura, Lil’ Rod Jones, and federal indictments charging Sean “Diddy” Combs with horrific acts of abuse – all charges Combs denies – might provide answers.  Do you think Sean C...
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Sean “Diddy” Combs is a music producer and rapper, but he is a businessman first. And as every businessman knows, you gotta pay the cost to be the boss. You’ve gotta bet big to win big. You have to have drive, determination, and swag. Three things that Diddy possesses and which helped Diddy navigate through the fallout of a fatal stampede, an alleged beatdown of a record exec, and a shooting at a Manhattan nightclub. All of them ob...
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In the aftermath of the Manson Family murders, Hollywood was gripped with fear. Various investigations stitched together a deluded White Album-inspired explanation of the killing spree. But Dennis Wilson knew the truth—that he had made a terrible, irreversible mistake and that now, the sunny dream of the '60s was over. The nightmare it brought about haunted him to his final days. For a full list of contributors, see the show notes ...
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In the summer of 1968, the Beach Boys’ drummer Dennis Wilson invited a hippie guru and his grungy harem to squat in his Pacific Palisades home. Dennis was the handsome California surfer that his brother Brian wrote all those hit songs about, while the hippie cult would soon be infamous the world over as the Manson Family. What happened when the Wilsons met the Mansons would forever change Dennis, the band, and American history itse...
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In this week's After Party, Jake shares some music and movie recommendations based on the research that went into this year's Disgraceland episodes. On Tuesday we're bringing you a brand new episode on Diddy, and Jake wants to know: Do you think Sean Combs is guilty of his alleged crimes? Why or why not? Tell Jake at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod. For more great Disgraceland episodes, dive ...
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Hank Williams defined the genre we now call country with a guitar in one hand and a bottle of booze in the other. In between stints in the local drunk tank, he cultivated a knack for blue-collar blues that would spread far beyond the backwoods South Hank called home. His self-proclaimed “hillbilly music” logged him more than 30 hit songs and membership at the Grand Ole Opry, fulfilling Hank’s lifelong dream. But his frequent bouts ...
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In 1960s London, for young guitar enthusiasts, believing that “Clapton is God” was practically the 11th Commandment. In 1970 he lent his big, sticky tone to yet another band: Derek and the Dominos. The group’s white-hot blues burned bright for barely more than a year, but their impact was massive. Guided by drug, alcohol and heartbreak free-fall, Eric Clapton created one of rock’s most recognizable guitar riffs, while drummer Jim G...
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Your wild tales of rock ‘n’ roll animalism, UFOs, Christmas songs, SNL characters, Jay Z and Diddy, and so much more; we get way into your comments, your thoughts, and what makes your rock ‘n’ roll souls tick on this Christmas-week episode. Coming up, we're bringing you an episode on Hank Williams, who died on New Years Day in 1953, and Jake wants to know: Who are the songwriters and singers who can make you tear up, who cut you to...
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Everything about Chris Farley was larger than life. His comedy, his laughs, the risks he took in front of a live studio audience – they were all bigger than anyone else's. So were his appetites. Not just for performance, but for life. He plowed through a plate glass window, 15 stories above downtown Chicago. He was kicked out of college for burning down a girl's house. He disappeared with two Playboy models in Los Angeles and woke ...
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This week in the After Party, Jake gets into the great rock 'n' roll myths: we're talking cocaine enemas, ham sandwiches, mud sharks, and stomach pumps. And speaking of rock 'n' roll, we want to hear your stories of rock animalism - what are the important rock tales that we should preserve? Next week, we're bringing you an episode on one of the greatest funnymen of all time - Chris Farley. As Saturday Night Live gets ready to celeb...
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Elvis Presley loved the Memphis singer Johnny Ace. Johnny died long before Elvis’ became the King of Rock ‘N’ Roll and the way in which Johnny Ace died was as tragic as it was violent. It involved a game of Russian roulette, a greedy and dubious rock ‘n’ roll impresario, BB King, Big Mama Thornton, Little Richard, and a killer conspiracy and music history myth in desperate need of busting. Buckle up for a Christmas story like no ot...
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This week in the After Party, Jake dives into the recent allegations against Jay-Z and hears from you about your favorite Christmas songs. Plus, we've compiled (thanks to djonnit) all your favorites in a special Spotify playlist! Next week, we're bringing you a special Christmas-themed episode on one of the great rock n' roll myths: the tragic story of Memphis R&B singer Johnny Ace. We want to know: what are some other great rock m...
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Shane MacGowan lived his life as an outsider. He was an Irishman living in England, a troublemaking jug-eared punk with rotten teeth and a voracious appetite for drugs and alcohol. And with his band, The Pogues, he created a powerful synthesis of the traditional music of his homeland and a modern punk attitude. It was this gift for melding the sacred with the profane that led to the creation of one of the finest and most unique Chr...
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This week in the After Party, Jake looks back at John Lennon and gets your take on which Beatle had the best solo career. Next week, we're bringing you the story of a true rock n' roll original, Shane MacGowan, and in honor of his classic song "Fairytale of New York," we want to know: what are your favorite holiday songs? Tell Jake your favorites and why at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod, an...
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This week in the After Party, Jake reflects on Thanksgiving and The Last Waltz. Plus, Jake hears from you on your favorite concert films, and it turns out you really like Talking Heads! Next week, we're bringing you a story about John Lennon in the 1970s. We want to know: which Beatle had the best solo output?. Let Jake know at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod. For more great Disgraceland epis...
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