DISGRACELAND
by Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts
Bonus: Cliff Booth, Papa John Phillips, and the Myth of California…
About this podcast
DISGRACELAND is an award-winning music and true crime podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. Jerry Lee Lewis's 5th wife? Dead. Sid and Nancy? Both dead. Why? Because musicians are insane, and insane things happen to them.
Why did we lose Amy Winehouse at 27? Was Debbie Harry really abducted by Ted Bundy as she claims? Is Patti Smith not just the "Godmother of Punk", but also the "Original True Crime Girl"? What really happened the night of the Jay Z nightclub stabbing? What do the Diddy indictments truly reveal? All these stories and more, on artists from every genre and their true crimes, in our massive 260-plus story archive. The Dead, the Stones, Johnny, Willie, Frank, Kurt, Courtney, Gaga, Lana, Taylor, and too many to name.
DISGRACELAND is music history come to life through audio storytelling as you've never heard it before, with revealing facts: yes, assassins are the real reason the Beatles quit touring—reclaimed myths: no, Mama Cass didn't die from choking on a ham sandwich––and constant reckoning between art and artist––all told through the lens of true crime.
This is the podcast for the self-proclaimed "Disgos", the musically obsessed and the true crime heads; the outsiders, the independent thinkers who know that the best history is the history that gets buried. DISGRACELAND is where host Jake Brennan tells the stories they didn't want told. The kind you'll end up telling someone else. Get ready to uncover hidden truths and buckle up for truly edge-of-your-seat storytelling.
New, fully scripted, sound-designed episodes are released every Tuesday. Bonus chat-style episodes where Jake responds to voicemails, texts, and emails from Disgos hit on Thursdays, and "Rewind" episodes from our archive drop on Sundays.
DISGRACELAND is not a journalistic podcast. It's an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. Certain dialogue and scenes are dramatized, as is common in scripted entertainment based on real stories. Sources and credits for each episode are available at www.disgracelandpod.com.
To unlock ad-free listening, exclusive content, and connect with your fellow Disgos, go to www.disgracelandpod.com to become an All Access member.
Rocka Rolla.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 495 episodes
- Bonus: Cliff Booth, Papa John Phillips, and the Myth of California Dreamin’ · 28 min · Season 29 Episode 292John Coltrane, too many kids’ baseball games, and a growing obsession with Quentin Tarantino’s next movie. Plus, how Tarantino changed my mind about the Mamas and the Papas, the…
- Buddy Holly: Did the Rock ‘n’ Roll Pioneer Shoot Down His Own Plane? · 47 min · Season 29 Episode 292“The day the music died” refers to February 3, 1959, as that was the day the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper crashed, killing everyone on board…
- Britney Spears (Pt. 2): Lithium, Las Vegas, and a Long-Awaited Emancipation · 36 min · Season 10 Episode 106Britney 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…
- Britney Spears (Pt. 1): Trauma Pop · 35 min · Season 10 Episode 105No 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…
- Bonus: Good Vs. Evil, Brian vs. Keith, Blind Melon, and Buddy Holly · 38 min · Season 29 Episode 291Halloween is over. Evil fading toward good, and grace. Thanksgiving is upon us. Keith Richards’ quiet charity vs. Brian Jones, the irredeemable Stone. Plus, we hear from you on…
- Shannon Hoon: Blind Melon, Bee Girls, and the Courage to Say Yes · 33 min · Season 23 Episode 239Blind Melon's Shannon Hoon lived for freedom—on stage in drag, tripping at Woodstock, or swinging mic stands at security guards. From Lafayette to Los Angeles., his journey was a…
- Madonna (Rewind): Music as Sex and Sex as Power in the Reign of the Queen of Pop · 41 min · Season 4 Episode 42Madonna 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 was Toronto police…
- Bonus: Reggie Watts’ Ego Was Too Big to Kill · 36 min · Season 29 Episode 291Unpacking Reggie Watts and the wolves in sheep’s clothing. Corrosive evil. The bad guys (from music history) hiding in plain sight. Plus, Reggie Watts had us talking about John…
- Reggie Watts: Is Reggie Watts the Guy Your Mother Warned You and/or Your Sister About? · 55 min · Season 29 Episode 291On this episode: an unprecedented comedic talent, the power of celebrity, and the power of Ketamine. The death of Reggie Watts’ ex-girlfriend Katherine McCollough and allegations…
- AC/DC Pt. 2 (Rewind): Dirty Deeds, Dead Friends, and Murder for Hire · 39 min · Season 25 Episode 255This is the story of the greatest rock ’n’ roll band on earth. AC/DC was forged in discipline, sharpened by grief, resurrected by obsession … and nearly undone by one final dirty…
- AC/DC pt. 1 (Rewind): A Satanic Serial Killer, A Police Man Hunt, and a Media Witch Hunt · 38 min · Season 11 Episode 118In 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…
- Bonus: Real Evil in Rock ‘n’ Roll. Is There Any? · 50 min · Season 29 Episode 290Alice Cooper, As I Lay Dying, the death of Cronos from Venom, and the Halloween season and all the horror movies and dark soundtracks we’re listening to have us asking…is evil…
- Alice Cooper: Vampires, Nightmares, and Resurrection Rock · 34 min · Season 24 Episode 242Alice Cooper’s life was a nightmare—but it was all real. This is the story of addiction, illusion, and the ultimate act of survival. Alice Cooper wasn’t just a shock-rock icon—he…
- Michael Alig (Rewind): If a Club Kid Kills, Stuffs the Body in a Box and Tells The World About It Will Anyone Listen? · 29 min · Season 1 Episode 11In 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 friend and DJ Angel Melendez…
- Bonus: Tupac Murder Sentencing and Losing My Religion · 33 min · Season 29 Episode 290For Tim Lambesis, life begins and ends with himself and his band, As I Lay Dying. We go into faith-based music and discuss the sentencing of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, closing a…
- As I Lay Dying: Are Phonies Running the Christian Metal Scene? · 40 min · Season 29 Episode 290As I Lay Dying was one of the pillars of Christian metal when the genre crossed over to the mainstream in the 2000s. And then their frontman, Tim Lambesis, tried to hire a hitman…
- Eminem (Rewind): Taking His Shot, Pulling a Glock, and Facing the Real Slim Shady · 35 min · Season 4 Episode 43On a single Saturday in 2000, Marshall Mathers assaulted two separate men with a pistol and fought with his wife outside a nightclub, resulting in lawsuits and charges that hung…
- Bonus: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Kurt & Courtney Conspiracies, and…Constipation? · 41 min · Season 28 Episode 289In this week’s After Party, Jake discusses the spirited online response to our Nirvana episodes and wonders why Courtney Love continues to be the the target of vitriol and…
- Screamin’ Jay Hawkins: Was Screamin’ Jay Hawkins Murdered? · 43 min · Season 28 Episode 289He was an operatic vocalist made famous by his song “I Put A Spell on You,” a song he performed throughout the conservative 1950s while jumping out of a coffin on stage…
- Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love Pt. 2: Suicide Samurai · 35 min · Season 3 Episode 26Grunge, 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 the couple’s heroin-hazed pregnancy…
- Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love Pt. 1: No Direction Home · 41 min · Season 3 Episode 25Kurt 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, was unapologetic, fierce…
- Bonus: Old Rockstars With No F*cks Left To Give · 36 min · Season 28 Episode 288We go deeper into the claims Quincy Jones made later in his life, but we also discuss one of the most important music and entertainment figures of the 20th century. And as…
- Quincy Jones: True or False? His Wild Life and the Stories Behind His Wildest Claims · 50 min · Season 28 Episode 288Quincy Jones brought truth through music. We heard what America really felt like in the albums he produced, and in the films he scored. At the end of his life he made wild…
- Bonus: Real “Emo” Notes from the Punk Rock Museum, DIY Recording, and More Bobby Fuller · 36 min · Season 28 Episode 287Notes on the emotional impact from Jake’s trip to the Punk Rock Museum, Bobby Fuller and DIY recording recs, plus your voicemails, texts, dms, and emails on how Bobby died and…
- Bobby Fuller: Who Killed Bobby Fuller? · 47 min · Season 28 Episode 287How did Bobby Fuller die? Ask four different people and you’ll get four different answers. Wikipedia will tell you that Bobby’s death was an “accident”. The LAPD will tell you…
- Travis Scott and Astroworld: The Devil Went Down to Houston (Rewind) · 36 min · Season 20 Episode 200Travis Scott’s 2021 Astroworld music festival turned out to be a deadly disaster. Was it greed? Satanism? Or was something even more mysterious and evil behind the events that…
- Bonus: Mysterious Crosby Cowboy, Robin Thicke Bank Robbery, and More · 33 min · Season 28 Episode 286Surprise! David Crosby isn’t who we thought he was. Same goes for Robin Thicke apparently as well. Lil’ Wayne though? What about Wayne Coyne? All of this and more plus your…
- David Crosby: The Folk Singer Who Became an FBI Fugitive · 35 min · Season 23 Episode 234The man who made sweet, soft, harmonious music with Stephen Stills and Neil Young was actually a crazy rock ‘n’ roll animal. Listen to hear how David Crosby wound up addicted…
- Blink-182: Tom Was Right. Aliens Exist. (Rewind) · 41 min · Season 21 Episode 219Everyone thought Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge was a joke, until he proved them all wrong. This is the story of government control, aliens, an arrest, a plane crash, a cancer…
- Bonus Episode: Another Biopic Bites the Dust · 32 min · Season 28 Episode 286What good is a Queen biopic if it reveals nothing real about Freddie Mercury? Are biopics just Marvel movies for music lovers? This and more, plus your voicemails, text, dms, and…
- Queen: Will the Real Freddie Mercury Please Stand Up? · 42 min · Season 28 Episode 286Queen is one of the biggest-selling bands in music history, and Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the highest-grossing biopics of all time. But did the movie give us a true portrait of…
- Bonus Episode: Tupac Shakur Case Closed? · 35 min · Season 28 Episode 285Finally! The mystery is over! We know who killed Tupac and why. Or do we? This and more, plus your voicemails, text, DMs, and emails in this week’s After Party bonus episode. See…
- Special Episode: Reggie Watts and the Artists You Want to Hear in Disgraceland · 31 min · Season 28 Episode 285A special look at the new artists we’re covering in the second half of 2026, along with a peek into the breaking Reggie Watts story, and how you can be directly involved in the…
- Bonus Episode: A Tribute to Dolly Parton · 34 min · Season 28 Episode 284Dolly Parton has passed away. Dolly Parton was a musical giant, an American songwriter worthy of a place on the same page in the music history books as Bob Dylan, Kurt Cobain…
- Alice Bag: The Punk Rock Scene That Soundtracked a Serial Killer · 42 min · Season 28 Episode 284In 1977, punk rock took root in Los Angeles just as a prolific serial killer began to terrorize the city. For months, the bodies of young women were being discovered on hillsides…
- Bonus Episode: A Murder On Tour, Southern Bands and Brother Bands · 32 min · Season 28 Episode 283The murder from Allman Brothers Band history that didn’t make it into our full episode, your take on the greatest southern bands, and more on this bonus episode of Disgraceland…
- Bonus Episode: Addressing the Tila Tequila Rumor, Billy Corgan’s Shapeshifter, and a Glorious Rock ‘N’ Roll Jimmy Kimmel Performance. · 34 min · Season 28 Episode 283I wanted to talk this week about Billy Corgan’s outrageous shapeshifting claim and how it relates to who he is as a musician, but the Internet had other plans. It was all about…
- Bonus Episode: Tribute to Sick of it All’s Lou Koller, Plus More John Frusciante and River Phoenix · 36 min · Season 28 Episode 282We pay tribute to Sick Of It All’s Lou Koller, dive deeper into the theories surrounding River Phoenix’s death and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitarist John Frusciante’s alleged…
- Red Hot Chili Peppers’ John Frusciante and the Death of River Phoenix · 47 min · Season 28 Episode 282Someone handed River Phoenix a deadly drink containing a liquid speedball. Some claim Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante handed it to him. This is the story of how…
- Bonus Episode: Extreme Music, Extremely Bad Things, and Always Doing the Right Thing · 36 min · Season 28 Episode 281On this episode, Jake is stuck in Boston so guest host Dr. Lundy is talking about extreme music being blamed for extremely bad things, from Slipknot to Ozzy to Judas Priest. See…
- Bonus Episode: My Summer Listening, Reading, Watching Recs And More · 30 min · Season 28 Episode 281Disgos, the World Cup is over and rock ‘n’ roll lost, so now what? Well, here are my recommendations on how to pass time for the rest of your summer; my fav summer listening…
- Dolly Parton: How the Country Icon Nearly Became the Subject of Her Own Murder Ballad · 43 min · Season 28 Episode 281They tried to take her songs. They tried to take her fame. They even threatened to take her life – not once, but multiple times. Listen to find out how Dolly Parton avoided…
- Bonus Episode: A Rock ‘N’ Roll World Cup, Criminal Minded English Musicians and Here’s Wonderwall · 35 min · Season 28 Episode 280England? Argentina? Spain? You know who the winner of this year’s World Cup really is? Oasis. Plus, it’s Happy Mondays week in Disgraceland, has us asking, who do you think is…
- Happy Mondays: How Thieves, Drug Dealers, and Would-Be Kidnappers Took Over Madchester’s Music Scene · 42 min · Season 28 Episode 280Explores the influential Madchester group's influence on UK culture and transgressive behavior involving the planned kidnappings of Donovan and the Smith's Johnny Marr. To see…
- Bonus Episode: The Best, Wildest, and Most Unbelievable Jim Morrison Death/Faked Death Theories. · 31 min · Season 27 Episode 279Disgos, Jim Morrison is dead, and he didn’t die in a night club in Paris, but this doesn’t make the wild theories about Jim any less interesting, nor does it prevent us from…
- Jim Morrison: Who Killed Jim Morrison? · 43 min · Season 27 Episode 279But wait, Jim Morrison overdosed on heroin because he was a drug addict rockstar just like Janis Joplin, right? Wrong. Who exactly was “the Count," the French aristocrat who was…
- Bonus Episode: My Chance Encounter With One of My Favorite Artists on the Streets of Europe · 31 min · Season 27 Episode 278Art is tough business. Wendy O. Williams’ tragic end taught us that this week, but beauty is everywhere if you know where to look. Especially when it’s into the eyes of one of…
- Wendy O. Williams: The Shocking Final Act of a Shock Rock Provocateur · 43 min · Season 27 Episode 278This is the story of one of the most extreme shock rockers in music history. On stage, Wendy O. Williams would smash TV sets with a sledgehammer, chainsaw electric guitars in…
- Bonus Episode: The Sonic Youth New York Kool Thing Walking Tour · 32 min · Season 27 Episode 277A mythic trip through some of New York City’s most rock ‘n’ roll addresses. Beyond the Chelsea to beatdowns with Bob Dylan, stoopside hangs with the Stones, Miles backstage with…
- Sonic Youth: The Murders Behind One of the Coolest Album Covers of All Time · 47 min · Season 27 Episode 277This is the story of one of the coolest album covers of all time, Sonic Youth’s Goo, and how the band was unaware of the shocking murders behind their own album art. A true crime…







