Unplugged Revisited

Season Two Finale! Spanning 1990 to 2019, we dig into a cool dozen solo acts who spiced up their Unplugged setlists by reworking a song or two (or six) from their former bands (some of which who have since gotten back together). The solo acts who unplugged their former bands include: Joe Walsh (formerly of The Eagles) Don Henley (formerly of The Eagles) Paul McCartney (formerly of The Beatles) Sti...

Joe Public (Kevin Scott, JR Carter, and Dwight “Mr. Dew” Wyatt) joins the show to talk about playing the “R&B Unplugged” episode of MTV Unplugged in 1992. During the taping, they not only performed their own Billboard Hot 100 Top 5 hit “Live and Learn” but they also pulled double duty as the backing band for Boyz II Men and Shanice! If you dig the show, would like to share your own Unplugged m...

George Michael is my first gone-too-soon artist to get their own “Unforgotten” style episode. While I normally save my single-Unplugged deep dives for when I interview an artist or musician who has played MTV Unplugged, “Unforgotten” will be an interview-less solo deep dive around an Unplugged artist who’s passed away. Plug in to hear all about his incredible musical evolution and songrwtiting mat...

We’re kicking off 2026 by looking back 30 years to discuss the entire 1996 Season of MTV Unplugged with longtime MTV Unplugged producer/showrunner Alex Coletti. Tune in for some incredible behind-the-scenes stories, covers, and song clips courtesy of Alice in Chains, Tori Amos, Seal, Hootie and the Blowfish, Oasis, and George Michael along with some present-day “NPR’s Tiny Desk is the new MTV Unpl...

To celebrate The Beatles Anthology turning 30 this year, here’s a super fun collection of Beatles songs that have been played (some for the first and only time) on MTV Unplugged . Artists covered include Annie Lennox, Phil Collins, Blackstreet, Cassia Eller, Hall & Oates, Slaughter, Joe Cocker, and a duet between original Unplugged host Jules Shear and Marty Willson-Piper (The Church). There’s...

In honor of this year's Record Store Day Black Friday (November 28) and the release of a-ha’s ‘Take on Me 40th Anniversary EP’ featuring their 2017 MTV Unplugged piano ballad version of the iconic classic, I’ve put together a retrospective of every single MTV Unplugged album that’s been released or reissued for Record Store Day over the years. Tune in to hear all about the amazing MTV Unplugged RS...

Drummer Fergal Lawler (The Cranberries) joins the show to discuss the band’s phenomenal 1995 MTV Unplugged episode – which, 30 years later, is finally getting released as a proper standalone album (out 11/7). Fergal recollects on unplugging “Zombie,” playing with the Electra Strings, and dropping three brand new songs into their Unplugged setlist (including the one-time only rarity “Yesterday’s Go...

For our Season Two opener, we called in a Ringer! Writer, author, and podcaster Rob Harvilla (“60 Songs that Explain the ‘90s”) joins the show to discuss MTV Unplugged ’s massive, multi-layered impact throughout the 1990s via six exemplary performances. I picked six songs as well, so you’re really getting a dozen different Unplugged gems that both highlight the show’s unique sonic alchemy and also...

Season One Finale! Trey Lorenz joins the show to discuss singing on Mariah Carey’s legendary quadruple platinum MTV Unplugged (including their last-minute addition turned global smash hit duet of The Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There”), as well as his years of working with Mariah from her first promotional tour in 1990 all the way through to the present day. If you dig the show, want to share your own Un...

UR016: "Kurt Cobain Unplugged" UK Exhibit of Kurt's Martin D18-E Acoustic Guitar (Alan Di Perna) [Nirvana 1993 MTV Unplugged] Alan Di Perna joins the show to discuss his work curating the “Kurt Cobain Unplugged” UK exhibit running this summer and fall at London’s Royal College of Music. The exhibit features a plethora of Nirvana rarities, as well as two key items from the band’s legendary 1993 MTV...

God-tier grunge bassist Mike Inez (Alice in Chains) joins the show to discuss the band’s equally brilliant and heartbreaking MTV Unplugged episode and album from 1996. Lots of great Alice talk, Seattle scene memories, and EVEN MORE “Friends Don’t Let Friends Get Friends Haircuts” backstory to add to the storied Alice-Metallica lore. If you dig the show, want to share your own Unplugged memories, a...

Double Diamond certified guitarist Mark Bryan (Hootie and the Blowfish) joins the show to discuss the band’s special homecoming of an Unplugged that was filmed on the University of South Carolina campus and aired just a day before the release of their second album ( Fairweather Johnson ) in 1996. As a bonus, I also talk to the recipient of the four-year Hootie and the Blowfish college scholarship...

We continue pulling back the curtain on “The Young-Plugged Saga” to discuss Neil Young’s three appearances on MTV Unplugged – a branded concert video in 1990, his unaired episode in 1992, and his broadcast/album in 1993. Part Two features an interview with MTV Unplugged editor Jon Vesey. If you dig the show, want to share your own Unplugged memories, ask a question, request a show topic, or connec...

We’re pulling back the curtain on “The Young-plugged Saga” to discuss Neil Young’s three appearances on MTV Unplugged – a branded concert video in 1990, his unaired episode in 1992, and his broadcast/album in 1993. Part One features an interview with longtime MTV Unplugged producer/showrunner Alex Coletti. If you dig the show, want to share your own Unplugged memories, ask a question, request a sh...

Southern alternative hip-hop pioneers Arrested Development (Speech, Eshe, and Rasa Don) join the show to talk about the stunning MTV Unplugged episode and album they delivered during their explosive ’92-’93 whirlwind. They also discuss their brand new track – “All I See is Melanin” – that’s available now! If you dig the show, want to share your own Unplugged memories, ask a question, request a sho...

Renowned bass genius Nathan East (“Footloose,” “Easy Lover,” “Saving All My Love for You,” “Tears in Heaven,” “Change the World,” “Get Lucky”) joins the show to reminisce about playing on three separate episodes of MTV Unplugged : Eric Clapton (1992), Phil Collins (1994), and Babyface (1997). Along with playing on over 2000 albums since the 1970s, East can also be heard (and seen) on the new Eric...

Revisit some of Unplugged’s greatest hits and under-the-radar rarities as Will dissects the four “official” Unplugged compilation CDs that came out between 1994 and 2004. Not only do these albums contain some of Unplugged’s most well-known moments (10,000 Maniacs, Alanis Morissette, R.E.M., Alice in Chains, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart) but also some of its most magical performances to have never bee...

Join us as we establish the “MTV Unplugged Two-Timers Club” and induct the inaugural batch of 40+ artists who have appeared on MTV Unplugged more than once (with a few even appearing three times). Inductions are broken out by four main categories: Two Shows , 1.5 Shows , Two Spots , and Non-Band Musicians . Inductees include: R.E.M., Café Tacuba, Fanta 4/Die Fantastischen Vier, Mando Diao, Neil Yo...

Chris Carrabba (Dashboard Confessional) joins the show to discuss the band’s celebrated 2002 MTV Unplugged episode (during the program’s 2001-2002 reboot) and their subsequent platinum-selling MTV Unplugged 2.0 album. He talks about the impact that playing Unplugged has had on his career and also reminisces about some of his own favorite ‘90s Unplugged episodes (The Cure, Pearl Jam, Nirvana). If y...

Lori Goldston joins the show to discuss playing cello with Nirvana on their legendary MTV Unplugged performance. She also discusses her time with the band before and after the Unplugged taping, as she toured with them on the North American leg of their In Utero tour from October ’93 to January ’94. Goldston can be seen and heard on Nirvana’s Unplugged in New York and Live and Loud album/DVD releas...

MC Lyte joins the show to discuss playing MTV Unplugged twice: first on the 1991 YO! Unplugged hip-hop show (alongside A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and LL Cool J) and then on the second Spoken Word episode from 1994. Tune in to hear her reminisce about playing “Cappuccino” with a live band (and how that informed some of the songs on her next album), as well as how validating the experience of...

Natalie Merchant joins the show to discuss both of her appearances on MTV Unplugged back when she was the lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs. Tune in to hear her stories about the band’s very early Unplugged in 1990, their massively popular second episode in 1993 (with special guest David Byrne), and how the process of instrumentally reimagining their songs for the show helped influence creative elemen...

UR003 - "Unplugged 101, Part 3" (2000-2024) is the third explainer episode outlining the entire 35-year-plus spectrum of MTV Unplugged . This episode kicks off with the Unplugged 2.0 reboot of 2001 (the return of R.E.M., Lauryn Hill, Jay-Z and the Roots, Dashboard Confessional, and more) and tracks the dynamic peaks and valleys of the subsequent two-and-a-half decades of award-winning revivals, in...

UR002 - "Unplugged 101, Part 2" (1994-1999) is the second of three explainer episodes outlining the entire 35-year-plus spectrum of MTV Unplugged . This episode covers 1994 to 1999 and discusses what exactly MTV Unplugged did with their multi-tentacled creative platform throughout the second half of the decade, as well as how they handled the pre-Y2K dismount of the show’s imperial ‘90s run right...

UR001 - Unplugged 101, Part 1 (1989-1993) is the first of three explainer episodes outlining the entire 35-year-plus spectrum of MTV Unplugged . This episode covers MTV Unplugged 's earliest days in 1989, all the way through its hard-earned, momentum-building early-‘90s pop cultural ubiquity, and right up to the transcendently magical apex of the ’93 season closer with Nirvana. If you dig the show...