DISGRACELAND

Mac Miller was threatened by the most powerful man in the world. Rejected by some of the most powerful tastemakers in the music industry. Dumped by one of the most popular singers in the universe. He worked tirelessly to overcome these challenges, transforming his art and thus transforming himself. But it wasn’t an easy road. An unexpected backlash to his debut LP led him down some previousl...

Friend of the pod and incredible documentary filmmaker Tiller Russell (Netflix's Night Stalker: Hunt for a Serial Killer and the upcoming Waco: American Apocalypse) chats with Jake about AC/DC's connections to Richard Ramirez, the weight of dealing in crime stories, and much more. In other corners of the After Party, Jake shares details of his recent trip to Daytona and catches up on your messages...

In the 1980s, AC/DC’s biggest fan was a notorious serial killer. The band was an international best-selling hit machine, and members like the late Bon Scott and die-hard Angus Young became rock icons. But when the press caught wind of the disturbing fandom of the serial killer Richard “The Night Stalker” Ramirez, the news quickly dragged the world’s most fun, pure rock &lsq...

Jake celebrates Disgraceland's 5 year anniversary happening this week! Season 1 just re-released, Season 11 just started with 50 Cent, and Jake talks about it all. And he's caught up on some of your viewing recommendations--hit Jake up with your own recs, questions, and stories at 617-906-6638 and join the After Party! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson was dealing crack by the age of 10, born into the height of the epidemic in Queens. He faced possession charges while still in high school, made a career as a dealer after, got stung and raided by cops, but always had his mind on the mission: to get rich, or die trying. And when he found out he was going to be a father, the idea of getting rich through music ra...

Shootouts, drug running, crashing cars  and  planes, and walks on the wild side. It's almost here: find out which musical icons are featured in Season 11 of Disgraceland. New episodes drop every Tuesday starting February 14th. Rocka Rolla. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podc...

Got a Disgraceland pitch? Know a cover that beats the original? What are you reading watching and listening to? Jake closes out Season 10 of Disgraceland with a fan mailbag deep dive. Leave your own message at 617-906-6638 and join the After Party. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mama Cass’ role as Hollywood’s hippie den mother pulled her into the orbit of troubling company during the “Summer of Love.” The former singer of The Mamas and the Papas thrived in Laurel Canyon's social circles, which included her close friend Sharon Tate and Sharon’s husband, filmmaker Roman Polanski. But Cass’ alleged involvement in some of the long rumo...

The wildest on-stage freak outs (and even deaths), Jake's master movie list, your texts calls and emails, and of course... the down low on the latest episode in our extended Manson coverage: the Mamas & the Papas Part 1.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cass Elliot, AKA "Mama Cass" from The Mamas and The Papas, broke the mold of female pop superstardom and shattered expectations of what women in music “should” be. She also was arrested in London for theft, dated international drug dealers, and tanked what was supposed to be a career-defining solo performance while flying high on Iranian hashish. To this day, the biggest controversy sw...

Charles Manson the Music Man, the tale of Trent Reznor's time in the Cielo Drive murder house, and Jake's latest takes on All Quiet on the Western Front, White Lotus, and your listener messages. Leave your own message at 617-906-6638 and join the After Party! This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including domestic violence and graphic descriptions of violence and...

In and out of juvie and jail since childhood, Charles Manson learned guitar in prison from the last of the great Depression-era gangsters. He also made music industry connections in jail like the Rolling Stones’ road manager. During the "Summer of Love", Manson bounced from prison and took his act to San Francisco, formed a drug-soaked sex cult, moved the whole Family to L.A., and before you...

Robert Johnson didn’t just play the blues. He embodied them. He drank and womanized his way through the South, New York, and Chicago in the 1930s, until he finally met the devil at the crossroads for a little trade. So the legend goes, anyway. With the same soul he supposedly sold to the devil, Robert Johnson belted lightning blues that captured trouble in 12 bars. But the trouble he touted...

Chris Brown established himself as America’s most hated pop star when he brutally assaulted Rihanna in 2009. But long after the well-publicized attack on his then-girlfriend, Brown’s lengthy criminal record continued to unravel, as he shuffled between different rehab facilities, prison, and the custody of U.S. marshals. His reputed red-hot temper and fighting fists even resulted in a 1...

Ringo Starr’s first show as the Beatles’ new drummer was nearly ruined by a hostile audience that wanted him out of the band. Although he was finally accepted as one of the Fab Four, he was still targeted by those who did not wish him well. French-Canadian separatists in Montreal threatened to kill him. Mexican Federales tried to lock him up and throw away the key. And a decades-long running gag t...

In 1977, the world’s most controversial band didn’t stop when they were dropped by their major label only months after they were signed. John Lydon, Steve Jones, and the Sex Pistols continued their feud with the corporate music world, the English monarchy, and a horrified public. It was a struggle made all the more difficult by the introduction of the group’s most volatile member...

Punk rock’s greatest debut record was penned by a singer who saw traditional rock ‘n roll as a disease that needed to be eradicated and a sex-addicted guitarist who stole wallets, bikes, cars, and more than a few pieces of musical equipment to outfit the band. They cut their teeth performing for hardened criminals at a maximum security prison. They destroyed other bands’ gear and slept with their...

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 unpla...

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 h...

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....

George Harrison famously survived the dissolution of the Beatles, a bust by London’s drug squad, a potentially bloody visit from the Hell’s Angels, and a few rounds with cancer. But on the final day of the 20th century, his strength and faith were put to the ultimate test. A crazed fan, convinced that the Beatles were evil and George was a sorcerer who had possessed him, broke into Geo...

The Temptations were one of Motown’s signature vocal groups, and they remain one of the most successful R&B acts of all time. But fame and drugs corrupted them from the beginning. Lineup changes were as frequent as their chart-topping hits. Eventually their rocky road led to drug addiction, crippling paranoia, routine backstabbing, and one of the most tragic deaths in the history of the...

When it came to music, Miles Davis wasn’t about no safe, tired yesterday bullsh*t. After kicking his heroin addiction, he traded bespoke suits for fringe jackets and spearheaded an experimental blur of jazz and rock, eclipsing his contemporaries with a complete reinvention of himself. But the second act of Miles’ life came fraught with failures and new fixes, including a wrecked Lambo,...

Miles Davis is jazz’s first and only rock star, with the rap sheet to prove it. He did enough cocaine to run down the entirety of 52nd street, and pimped out women when performing wasn’t paying the bills. At one point, his heroin habit was so public that clubs who had once welcomed his brilliant bebop instead froze him out completely. When he wasn’t vying to keep his rightful spo...

The loss of emo-rap trailblazer Juice WRLD is one of the most sudden, tragic, and graphic celebrity deaths in recent memory. His adolescence experimenting with bold beats, prescription pills, and lean set him up to become Gen Z’s new spokesperson. His music helped hit the reset button on popular music, transforming a once-bubbly genre into an all-consuming wormhole of depression, tension, an...