In the 1970s, The Eagles made taking off into the upper stratosphere of the charts look easy. Their near decade-long reign of rock afforded them hobbies like dismantling hotel rooms with chainsaws, playing chicken with private jets, and joining delirious drug dealers on high-speed Corvette rides. But after nearly a solid decade of stadium sell-outs, No. 1 singles, top-selling albums and enough cocaine, sex and tension to make even the hardest, wildest, ’70s rock ‘n’ rollers cry uncle, the...

From games of chicken on private planes to one member surviving a private plane crash, the Eagles as a group very narrowly survived themselves. During their early days, they dosed out on Peyote and reimagined and reconfigured a new FM sound for the ages that would result in unimaginable success and excess. When their debut record was released on Geffen Records in 1972, America couldn’t have been more ready for their breezy, countrified Southern California sound. Yet something else came with...

This week in the After Party, Jake is ready to dive into the latest Disgraceland episode on Jeff Buckley, and to talk about his crazy influences, like Nina Simone, Edith Piaf, and more. We're also talking your Paul Simon album recommendations, why working out to disco is so great, and much more. If you wanna let Jake know what your favorite disco song is, or why you don't like disco, send a text or leave a voicemail at 617-906-6638 and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad...

Jeff Buckley released his only studio album, Grace, at the height of grunge rock. But it didn’t sound like grunge. It sounded like nothing else out there. It defied categorization. It was full of originals and covers, some complex and cerebral, others straight-up pop. From the pissed-off punk takes to the Eastern-influenced meditations, the constant was Jeff’s voice. A voice unlike any other. A voice that could do anything. A voice that was singing out loud on May 29, 1997, when Jeff Buckley,...

With graduation season once again upon us, Disgraceland looks back at the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when Jake was asked to deliver a virtual commencement address to the graduates of that very peculiar year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake has been basking in the New England sunshine and listening to some John Coltrane. But first, we're talking about how moved 15-year old Jake was when he heard Eazy-E for the first time and going through your top three Disgraceland episodes. What artists moved you when were 15 years old? Let Jake know via text or voicemail at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Long before he created a paradigm-shifting hip-hop supergroup, Eazy-E lucked into life as a Compton drug dealer when he discovered a dead man’s hidden stash of money and cocaine. He used the lessons of hustling on the streets when he went legit and became a media mogul. He also became a target. He was extorted. His life was threatened. And it was later discovered that he was on the kill list of a white supremacist group that planned to start a war in the aftermath of the Rodney King trial and...

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 George’s Friar Park estate in the dead of night with one goal: to murder George Harrison. For a full list of...

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, the pair ascended to icon status through the music they made together. But the couple’s road to the top was anything but smooth. It was rough and violent. Ike Turner, for all of his talent as a musician, was abusive and heavily addicted to cocaine, and in the end did everything he could to bring his wife down with him. This is the story of the...

Jake is back from his trip to Rhode Island and he's recommending some more music, including a Taylor Swift song or two. But first, we're talking Justin Bieber, parents of pop stars, and more. Let Jake know what your top 3 Disgraceland episodes are at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod and come join the After Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Justin Bieber is the pop star who went from preteen heartthrob to pure hedonist seemingly overnight. He raced into a bumpy adulthood when he mixed drag racing with a DUI. His frat bro of a father steered him towards a life of intense partying that encouraged smoking hazardous amounts of pot on private planes. The boy who once sang the hit single “Baby” was suddenly an unbearable man, barreling towards an early death with a smug attitude. Americans called for his deportation. One deranged fan...

Taylor Swift has a list of stalkers longer than her stadium tour setlists. One drove over 900 miles to hand-deliver his “love” letters to her then-record-label, Big Machine Records. Others have showed up to her homes bearing rope, lock picks, and tools to break her windows. The threats on her life have become so persistent that her security team once installed facial recognition software at the venues she performed in, specifically to distinguish her stalkers from her fans. While making some...

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, a junkie who was barely clean–or competent enough–to find his way around four strings. The band’s grand plan to...

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 girlfriends. They scammed the working class system that had scammed them for years, by convincing...

Best-selling author and former guitarist of the Del Fuegos Warren Zanes talks with Jake about interviewing the Boss for his new book, Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, touring with the Del Fuegos in the '80s, and more. A brand new Disgraceland episode on Justin Bieber comes out next Tuesday and a Badlands episode on James Dean comes out next Wednesday. Leave your own message for Jake to reply to at 617-906-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod and come join...

Unprovoked killing sprees. Nightclub gunfights. Mafia assassinations. True crime stories and modern folklore make up the backbone of many of the characters from Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, one of the Boss’s greatest albums. Which ones are real, and which ones are myth? This is the story of those stories: the story of the making of Nebraska. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including graphic depictions of violence. To see the full list of contributors,...

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 unplayable and refused to perform alongside his band. Then he stopped showing up at all. To see the full...

Jake is still watching music videos on his TV like it's 1991 and teases Season 12 of Disgraceland, which hits your feeds on Tuesday, May 16th. He also wants to know what Gov't Mule records and books to check out and what your favorite '80s and '90s music videos are. Leave a message for Jake to reply to at 617-907-6638 or on socials @disgracelandpod and come join the After Party! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mafia assassinations, drag racing, extortion, eternal life, and doing time at Rikers Island and San Quentin. Find out which music legends are featured in Season 12 of Disgraceland. New episodes drop every Tuesday starting May 16th, with bonus After Party episodes dropping every Thursday. Rocka rolla. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jake is slowly recovering from the Bruins' humiliating loss the other night but is ready to talk about the latest Badlands episode on Richard Pryor, how a hardcore kid like him got into Bruce Springsteen, and more. He teases a wacky 60-second video on Billy Idol, now available on our YouTube channel, @disgracelandpod. Let Jake know who your favorite '80s pop stars are at 617-906-6638 and come join the After Party. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at...

Richard Pryor was one of the funniest people who ever lived. He elevated stand-up comedy to an art form. But the real life that informed his stand-up – a life of pool halls, brothels, stabbings, shootings, and lots and lots of cocaine – was a source of constant pain. A pain that he managed with a freebase habit so out of control it nearly killed him before he was even 40 years old. This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including descriptions of domestic...

When a mystery arsonist set Tom Petty’s house on fire in the late 1980s, he barely escaped with his life. But there was another danger looming around the corner — a heroin addiction that drove him into a pit of isolation from his family, his fame, and his bandmates. Petty barely hoisted himself of it. The Heartbreakers’ bass player, Howie Epstein, wasn't so lucky. After the first phase of Tom Petty’s career burned to the ground, the stage was set for a descent into depression, dependency, and...

Chuck Berry was imprisoned numerous times. He was a victim of violent systemic racism and accused of horrific acts of sexual depravity. He also invented rock ‘n’ roll. Chuck Berry was as complex a character as he was influential as a musician. Throughout his career he found himself in numerous dust ups with authorities; some of them justified, most of them not. And through it all, whether he cared or didn’t, Chuck Berry made great music—literally some of the greatest music ever made. To view...

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 fans saw her as more than just a pop star — she was family. Selena was about to take her fame and her family to the world stage when a tangled web of deceit, betrayal, and jealousy would result in her untimely death at 23. To view the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...