DISGRACELAND
Episodes
Oasis Pt. 2: The Biggest Band on the Planet, Britop, Private Islands, A Drowning Rolls-Royce, Liam and Noel Off Their T*ts and at Each Other’s Throats
13 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Oasis were the biggest band on the planet for a moment. They famously warred with Britpop rivals Blur, and the Brothers Gallagher feuded with each oth...
Oasis Pt. 1: Hooliganism, Hedonism, Rock Star Anthems and the “Greatest Rock ‘N’ Roll Band on the Planet”
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Few bands have come from as little and made as much of themselves as Oasis. Along the way they were wildly entertaining — unlike anything England or...
The New York Dolls: Born to Lose, Lipstick Killers and R&B in four-inch heels
16 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The New York Dolls were one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands of all time. They came to life when their hometown of New York City was coming apa...
Lil’ Peep: A new hip-hop and emo fusion; trap beats, tender lyrics, too much Xanax and an overdose that’s still mysterious.
09 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Lil’ Peep was a once-in-a-generation talent. Poised to become a new Cobain, Bowie or Dylan, but whose life was cut short by an overdose that’s sti...
The Beatles (Pt. 2): Kamikaze Assassins, Acid Smuggling, Suicide, Kidnapping, and the Breakup the Greatest Band of All Time
02 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
At the height of their world-changing and culture-defining popularity, the Beatles faced death threats in foreign countries, an unfair tax rate in the...
The Beatles (Pt. 1): Stoned with Dylan, Dosed with Acid, Outrunning Knife Wielding Maniacs, and Driving the World to the Brink with Beatlemania
23 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Beatles caused fans to enter into manic states, literally. People died because of it. The band swallowed more pills than food in their early years...
The Ramones: TV Bombs, Psycho Therapy, Toilet Syringes, Turning Tricks and Saving Rock ‘N’ Roll
16 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sniffing glue, hooking for drug money, hurling rocks at the Beatles, and writing infectious sunshiny melodies about their grimy reality, the Ramones w...
David Bowie: The occult, cocaine, orgies, arrests, exorcisms, a weird flirtation with fascism and a dead body.
09 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
No musical artist better personified the hedonism of the ’70s than David Bowie. He captivated the imaginations of music fans all over the world with...
Tupac Shakur Pt. 2: Life Behind Bars, Suge Knight Saves The Day, East Coast/West Coast Beef, and What Could Have Been
02 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In part two of the Tupac Shakur story, we see the young star trying to deal with life behind bars and giving in to the patronage of the notorious Suge...
Tupac Shakur Pt. 1: 1960s Radicalism Gives Way to Socially Conscious Rap, a Charismatic Screen Star, and Deadly Violence
26 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tupac Shakur was many things. He was a supremely talented MC and was wildly charismatic in front of the camera. He was also violent, angry and complet...
Gram Parsons: A Stolen Body, Heroin, More Rolling Stones and Cosmic American Music
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Gram Parsons is one of the most influential musicians in rock ‘n’ roll that you’ve maybe never heard of. He created a form of music that has bee...
Chuck Berry: Systemic Racism, Sexual Depravity and the Invention of Rock ‘N’ Roll
24 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Chuck Berry was imprisoned numerous times. He was a victim of violent systemic racism and accused of horrific acts of sexual depravity. He also invent...
Selena: Tejano, Deception, and the Death of the Madonna of Mexico
10 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Selena Quintanilla Pérez ushered in the Golden Age of Tejano music in Texas with a meteoric rise up the charts and into the hearts of her fans. Her f...
The Misfits: Robbing Graves, Night of the Living Dead and the Teenagers from Mars
27 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Misfits were truly unique. Scary. Violent. Angry. Nihilistic. These words can easily describe not only their music, but also the band as people, p...
The Grateful Dead Pt. 2: The Ballad of Pigpen and Old, Weird America—an Origin Story
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Bootlegging whiskey, acid tests, grass, and songs about murder. The origins of the Grateful Dead are fascinating and not what most people think. Born ...
The Grateful Dead Pt. 2: The Ballad of Pigpen and Old, Weird America—an Origin Story
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Bootlegging whiskey, acid tests, grass, and songs about murder. The origins of the Grateful Dead are fascinating and not what most people think. Born ...
Chet Baker: Heroin, Romance, Missing Teeth and the James Dean of Jazz
29 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Chet Baker, with his natural talent, unique voice and beautiful looks was known as “the James Dean of Jazz.” He was also a savage junkie and part ...
Ice-T: Crip Rhymes, a Cop Killer, Thieving Jewels and Inventing Gangsta Rap
15 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ice-T stoked the wrath of the President of the United States, led the life of a successful jewel thief, ran with one of LA’s most notorious street g...
The Rolling Stones Pt. 2: Swinging London, Stolen Jewels, the Mars Bar Myth, and Busted at Redlands
30 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Establishment strikes back in this second installment of the Rolling Stones time in Swinging London. UK pop star Donovan is busted, a precursor to...
Rolling Stones Pt. 1: Swinging London, a Prison Break, East End Gangsters and the Anti-Beatles
23 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
London was swinging. Keith Richards was in jail. The Kray Twins were menacing about. Brian Jones was on too much LSD. Aristocrats were tripping over t...
Prince: Dark Funk and Fentanyl
09 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Few pop artists achieved the dizzying creative and career highs that Prince did. An artist who famously stayed away from drugs and most anything that ...
Prince (Pt. 1): Dark Funk and Fentanyl
09 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Few pop artists achieved the dizzying creative and career highs that Prince did. An artist who famously stayed away from drugs and most anything that ...
Studio 54: Disco Decadence, a Dead Body and Bags of Cash
26 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the late seventies, Studio 54 was the place to be for musicians and celebrities alike. John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen...
Nipsey Hussle: A Crenshaw Murder, Community Activism, Rollin 60s Crips, and Lost Potential
12 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nipsey Hussle was more than just one of this generation’s most promising voices in hip hop. He was a social activist, a community leader, and an asp...
Nipsey Hussle: A Crenshaw Murder, Community Activism, Rollin 60s Crips, and Lost Potential
12 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nipsey Hussle was more than just one of this generation’s most promising voices in hip hop. He was a social activist, a community leader, and an asp...
Ozzy Osbourne: The Prince of Darkness, Randy Rhoads’ Plane Crash and the Saving Grace of a Strong Woman
28 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ozzy Osbourne, along with his bandmates in Black Sabbath, invented heavy metal, and throughout Ozzy’s post-Sabbath solo career he would invent new, ...
Run DMC: Innovation, Evolution and the Mysterious Death of Jam Master Jay
14 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Run DMC is directly responsible for elevating hip hop to previously unimagined heights. They took rap music into an entirely different direction and h...
Joe Exotic: Tiger King, Budding Country Star, Confidence Man Extraordinaire
07 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Joe Exotic, the gun toting, mullet wearing, polyamorous subject of the hit Netflix series Tiger King was more than just a murder-minded conman. He cou...
John Denver: A Folk Singer, a Sniper and America’s Darkest Day
01 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
(This is a bonus April Fools’ episode of Disgraceland that is satire and not true crime.) John Denver was a one of the biggest stars of the Seventie...
Little Richard: Sex and the Duality of the King and Queen of Rock ‘N’ Roll
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Little Richard is the originator. Without him it’s hard to imagine the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elton John or even Led Zeppelin. He blazed a trail t...
Jay Z: Street hustle, a Nightclub Stabbing, a Near Drug Bust and the God MC
24 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 anythin...
Guns N’ Roses Pt. 2: Real life Rocket Queen, Raging Press, Recovered Memories, and the Riverport Riot
17 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Post Appetite For Destruction, Guns N’ Roses embodied the word “dysfunction." As the band prepared for their follow up release, singer Axl Rose wa...
Guns N’ Roses Pt. 2: Real life Rocket Queen, Raging Press, Recovered Memories, and the Riverport Riot
17 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Post Appetite For Destruction, Guns N’ Roses embodied the word “dysfunction." As the band prepared for their follow up release, singer Axl Rose wa...
Guns N’ Roses Pt. 1: Brawling with Bowie, Juvenile Delinquency, Dealing Dope and Death at Donington
10 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Few hard rock bands lived the life portrayed in their songs as authentically as Guns N’ Roses. Singer Axl Rose was driven by deep-seated demons that...
Guns N’ Roses Pt. 1: Brawling with Bowie, Juvenile Delinquency, Dealing Dope and Death at Donington
10 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Few hard rock bands lived the life portrayed in their songs as authentically as Guns N’ Roses. Singer Axl Rose was driven by deep-seated demons that...
The Beach Boys Pt. 2: Endless Bummer, Hollywood Paranoia, Onstage Fist Fights, Incest, and Cocaine
19 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In the aftermath of the Manson Family murders, Hollywood was gripped with fear. Various investigations stitched together a deluded White Album-inspire...
The Beach Boys Pt. 1: Endless Summer, LSD, Orgies, Charles Manson and a Steve McQueen Man-Crush
17 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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. Denn...
The Rolling Stones at Altamont: Bikers, Blood, and the End of the '60s
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Rolling Stones, the most dangerous band on the planet, envisioned their free concert at the Altamont speedway outside San Francisco as the triumph...
The Rolling Stones at Altamont: Bikers, Blood, and the End of the '60s
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Rolling Stones, the most dangerous band on the planet, envisioned their free concert at the Altamont speedway outside San Francisco as the triumph...
A$AP Rocky: Love Sex Dreams/LSD and Locked Up Overseas
26 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A$AP Rocky’s upbringing; Harlem, Riker’s, and his own instincts and sense of history informed his world view: A view that included not only a heal...
Whitney Houston: Cracks in the Mirror, Crack on the Mirror, and One Fateful Choice
12 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Whitney Houston was The Voice. A stunning beauty. An early MTV star and leading actress. But when she passed away in a hotel suite bath, the music ind...
Eminem: Taking His Shot, Pulling a Glock, and Facing the Real Slim Shady
05 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On a single Saturday in 2000, Marshall Mathers assaulted two separate men with a pistol and fought with his wife outside a nightclub, resulting in law...
Madonna: Music as Sex and Sex as Power in the Reign of the Queen of Pop
22 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Madonna always knew her life would be art. She rose through the late 70s New York scene reinventing pop iconography and feminism alike. But whether it...
Madonna: Music as Sex and Sex as Power in the Reign of the Queen of Pop
22 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Madonna always knew her life would be art. She rose through the late 70s New York scene reinventing pop iconography and feminism alike. But whether it...
Iggy Pop: Mad Artistry, Mental Wards, and Gaping Chest Wounds
15 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Iggy Pop pushed rock further than anyone before him, committing to live acts of sex, sickness, and rumored suicide on stage. From his cocaine fueled b...
Iggy Pop: Mad Artistry, Mental Wards, and Gaping Chest Wounds
15 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Iggy Pop pushed rock further than anyone before him, committing to live acts of sex, sickness, and rumored suicide on stage. From his cocaine fueled b...
Motown Records: Pimps, Prostitutes, the Detroit Mafia and the Sound of Teenage America
08 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Motown Records is one of the most successful musical industry endeavors of all time. The music and the megastars Motown produced, like Smokey Robinson...
Led Zeppelin: Dark Power, Cocaine, Backstage Brawls and Heavy Metal Magick
01 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Led Zeppelin were the biggest band on the planet. The great white shark of the seventies. They defined excess. They designed the avatar for the heavy ...
N.W.A Pt. 2: Beatdowns, Band Beef, Death Row and LA on Fire
26 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Part two of the N.W.A story finds the group dead center in America’s crosshairs, due in part to their own violent behavior, and at a crossroads crea...
N.W.A Pt. 1: Street Hustle, Reality Rap and Culture-Shifting Violence
26 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
N.W.A, the self proclaimed “most dangerous group in America,” were seen as violent, thuggish, profanity-spewing criminals, but they had nothing on...
Frank Sinatra: Frankie Is the Reason...That the President's Dead
31 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Frank Sinatra had it all, then lost it all, then got it all back tenfold. He was a man of extreme talent, confidence and insecurity. And he had powerf...
The Rolling Stones: Fugitives in Exile
23 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Gun fights, heroin trafficking, burglaries, kidnapping threats, intra-band infidelity and the greatest rock ‘n’ roll record ever made, Exile on Ma...
The Rolling Stones: Fugitives in Exile
23 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Gun fights, heroin trafficking, burglaries, kidnapping threats, intra-band infidelity and the greatest rock ‘n’ roll record ever made, Exile on Ma...
Cardi B: Felony Assault
09 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Cardi B is one of the biggest artists on the planet and one of the most successful female hip hop artists of all time. She is accused of two counts of...
Jim Morrison: Zodiac Killer Qu'est-ce Que C'est
25 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This is a bonus episode of Disgraceland that is satire and not true crime. Originally released on April 1, 2019 as an April Fools joke, this episode f...
Slick Rick: Hustle, Iconic Flow and a Menacing Tormentor
11 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Slick Rick has one of the most iconic voices in hip hip history. His style is completely his own, and his success owes as much to his delivery as it d...
Slick Rick: Hustle, Iconic Flow and a Menacing Tormentor
11 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Slick Rick has one of the most iconic voices in hip hip history. His style is completely his own, and his success owes as much to his delivery as it d...
Johnny Cash: Pills & Playing With Fire
28 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Johnny Cash took no shit. He was a total original. Could maneuver that big baritone around a ballad or a rave up like nobody’s business. He also bur...
Amy Winehouse: Rehab, the Muse and a Rare Talent
14 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Rehab, arrests, fights, hitting on Prince Harry, dramatic stage breakdowns, slagging off the press, Amy Winehouse was a rockstar’s rockstar and she ...
Amy Winehouse: Rehab, the Muse and a Rare Talent
14 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Rehab, arrests, fights, hitting on Prince Harry, dramatic stage breakdowns, slagging off the press, Amy Winehouse was a rockstar’s rockstar and she ...
XXXTentacion: Mellow Beats and Ultra Violence
30 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
XXXTentacion was one of Generation Z’s most talented hip hop stars but his ascent was marked by violence and drama; beatdowns, beefs (what’s up, D...
Grateful Dead Pt. 1: Freedom's Just Another Word for…
16 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Grateful Dead became one of the most influential bands of all time and propelled themselves with improvisation, LSD and an ethos of “freedom”....
Grateful Dead Pt. 1: Freedom's Just Another Word for…
16 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Grateful Dead became one of the most influential bands of all time and propelled themselves with improvisation, LSD and an ethos of “freedom”....
Ike and Tina Turner: The Inventor and Queen of Rock ‘N’ Roll
02 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ike Turner very well may have invented rock ‘n’ roll; Tina Turner is one of the most electrifying entertainers to ever take the stage. Together, t...
Snoop Doggy Dogg: Murder Was The Case
26 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Snoop Dogg, (AKA Calvin Broadus) has worn many hats: inmate, pimp, Martha Stewart’s BFF. In 1994, Snoop was the biggest name in hip hop, yet his car...
Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love Pt. 2: Suicide Samurai
19 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Grunge, grief, the Grateful Dead and a “teenage whore.” Part 2 of the Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love story picks up with Courtney’s ascent and th...
Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love Pt. 1: No Direction Home
14 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Kurt Cobain is a celebrated and defiant icon of Generation X. His wife, Courtney Love, was once the most hated woman in America. Courtney, like Kurt, ...
Spade Cooley: Jealousy, Torture, Murder
30 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Spade Cooley was one of Postwar America’s biggest celebrities and most talented musicians. He was also a violent drunk and homicidal psychopath with...
Rick James: Superfreak Is an Understatement
23 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Rick James may have been born into a life of crime, but he was determined to make his way in life through music. He intimidated George Clinton, inspir...
Big Lurch: Hip Hop Cannibal
16 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Big Lurch didn’t just rap about standard hip-hop culture; he rapped about serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer and horror movie villains like Freddy K...
Keith Moon: Rockstar Excess and a Dead Chauffeur
09 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Keith Moon of the Who was the prototype for rock drummers, both onstage and off. His drumming was wholly unique. Like his bandmates' behavior, it was ...
The Who Pt 1: Keith Moon, Rockstar Excess, and a Dead Chauffeur
09 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Keith Moon of the Who was the prototype for rock drummers, both onstage and off. His drumming was wholly unique. Like his bandmates' behavior, it was ...
Marvin Gaye: Father, Father There’s Far Too Many of Us Dying
25 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Marvin Gaye was born into a God-fearing home to a sweet, wholesome mother and crossdressing, philandering, pentecostal preacher father who ruled his c...
GG Allin: Live Fast, Die
11 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
GG Allin, the notoriously transgressive punk rocker, pushed the limits further than anyone before or after. For GG, there were no limits. No laws. He ...
GG Allin: Live Fast, Die
11 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
GG Allin, the notoriously transgressive punk rocker, pushed the limits further than anyone before or after. For GG, there were no limits. No laws. He ...
Brian Jones: To Be On Your Own Like A Sinking Stone
28 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Brian Jones invented “The World’s Greatest Rock ‘N Roll Band," The Rolling Stones, but would find himself kicked out of that band just a few yea...
Johnny Paycheck: Pardon Me, I've Got Someone to Kill
14 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Lots of country music stars wear the black hat but none of them wore it with more authenticity than Johnny Paycheck. Johnny Cash may have bragged abou...
Mötley Crüe: Sex, Drugs, and Even More Sex and Drugs: How Are These Dudes Still Alive?
17 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
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 H...
The Death of John Lennon (Pt. 2): “The phony must die, said the catcher in the rye.”
10 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
John Lennon was a walking contradiction: a violent pacifist and a creative genius marred by creative inconsistency. Just as he was getting his groove ...
The Death of John Lennon (Pt. 1): “John Lennon, I’m going to kill you, you phony bastard.”
10 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
John Lennon was a walking contradiction: a violent pacifist and a creative genius marred by creative inconsistency. Just as he was getting his groove ...
James Brown: Papa's Got A Brand New Bag... Of Meth
26 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when the hardest working man in show business takes a break? Idle hands are indeed the devil’s workshop. This episode will detail James...
James Brown: Papa's Got A Brand New Bag... Of Meth
26 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when the hardest working man in show business takes a break? Idle hands are indeed the devil’s workshop. This episode will detail James...
Michael Alig: If a Club Kid Kills, Stuffs the Body in a Box and Tells The World About It Will Anyone Listen?
19 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In March 1996, promoter Michael Alig, the "King of the Club Kids," after appearing on TV’s Geraldo and on the cover of New York magazine, bashed his...
Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.: The Media Did It
12 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Who killed Tupac? Who killed Biggie? The answer has been right there out in the open for years. This episode looks at the lives and deaths of both rap...
Bob Marley: Rasta Vigilante
29 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Bob Marley is known as the peace and love reggae superstar, but the truth of who he really was is a bit more complicated. After gunmen raided his home...
Tay-K: A Nationwide Manhunt and Art Imitating Life
15 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Arlington, Texas rapper born Taymor Travon McIntyre was involved in two killings by the time he was 17. Arrested on murder charges and placed unde...
The Rolling Stones: Sleeping With the First Lady and Trafficking Heroin
01 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes: Hit Me Again and I'll Burn Your House Down
17 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
TLC’s Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was known as “the crazy one.” She did, after all, burn down the mansion of her boyfriend, NFL player Andre Rison...
Van Morrison: Astral Weeks, Movement and Murder
03 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In 1968, Van Morrison was hiding out from the New York City Mafia in Boston, Massachusetts. Recently the victim of a physical attack from a Genovese c...
Norwegian Black Metal: Satanic Rebellion, Murder and Worse
20 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Never has there been a more extreme form of musical rebellion than Norwegian Black Metal. The genre’s founding band, Mayhem, its sister act Burzum a...
Sam Cooke: An Insatiable Libido and a Justifiable Homicide
06 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Cooke was a lot of things: soul superstar, civil rights champion, whip smart entrepreneur. But he was also a serial womanizer with an unbridled li...
Sid Vicious: Love Kills... Even a Mother's Love?
20 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It has long been believed that punk rock icon Sid Vicious died of a heroin overdose. That is true. However, new evidence suggests that his overly affe...
Jerry Lee Lewis: The Killer and Getting Away with Murder
13 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
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’...