Tag: DragonKing Dark
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DragonKing Dark: The death of Steve Irwin
We continue our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history podcast series with a look at the shocking, sudden, accidental death of television star “The Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin. Irwin gained worldwide fame with his various TV shows and specials looking at the animal kingdom and his work with the Australia Zoo. He was charismatic…
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DragonKing Dark: The Black Sox scandal
Our continuing series on the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history takes a look at a moment where that completely affected professional baseball. The “Black Sox scandal” was a gambling and game-fixing scandal where members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series. Despite acquittals in a trial, judge (and eventual MLB commissioner) Kenesaw Mountain Landis permanently…
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DragonKing Dark: The killing of John Lennon
Our series of 100 darkest moments in pop culture history continues this week with the murder of John Lennon. The Beatles were icons of pop music. Having broken up years earlier, the individual members of The Beatles had gone on to various other solo projects. John Lennon had already had a brilliant solo career and…
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DragonKing Dark: The death of Roberto Clemente
Legendary baseball star Roberto Clemente spent much of his time involved in charity work. Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua, was struck by a massive earthquake on December 23, 1972. Clemente arranged emergency relief flights. He soon learned, however, that the aid packages on the first three flights had been diverted by corrupt officials of…
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DragonKing Dark: The killing of Marvin Gaye
Our list of 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history continues with the killing of Marvin Gaye, an influential singer and musician who gained worldwide fame for his work with Motown Records. He was fatally shot three times by his father, Marvin Gay Sr., on April 1, 1984, at their house in the…
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DragonKing Dark: The killing of Sam Cooke
DragonKing Dark continues our look at 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history by looking at the killing of legendary singer Sam Cooke. On December 11, 1964, singer Sam Cooke was gunned down in Los Angeles, California. The original story and the one most commonly told is the 33 year old had taken…
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DragonKing Dark: Woodstock ’99
Continuing our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history, we look back at Woodstock ’99. This event, which recently got the HBO documentary and podcast treatment, there was one death, numerous sexual assaults, arson, and a general mockery of pop culture and toxic fandom at the festival originally known for peace and love. Woodstock ’99 put…
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DragonKing Dark: Great White & the Station Nightclub fire
Our series of 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history continues with the disastrous Station Nightclub fire in 2003 that killed 100 people during a Great White concert. Great White was a nationally known band which had a few hits during the hair metal era. In 2003 while playing a concert in West…
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DragonKing Dark: The death of Eddie Guerrero
Image: WWE We continue our series discussing 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history by looking at the death of pro wrestling star Eddie Guerrero. However, Guerrero’s death differs from others we have looked at so far. Eddy (yes, that is the correct spelling out of his own mouth) was not murdered, nor did…
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DragonKing Dark: The Eagles of Death Metal Paris concert tragedy
Image: Facebook On the latest DragonKing Dark and this latest installment of the top 100 darkest moments in pop culture history, we look at the November 2015 Paris attacks. On that Friday night in Paris, the city was hit by a coordinated terrorist attack involving multiple gunmen and bombs. The heart of the killings came…
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DragonKing Dark: The Who’s 1979 Cincinnati concert tragedy
We continue our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history with a look back at another concert disaster. This one happened before a concert by The Who in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1979 where eleven fans were crushed to death when the doors to the arena failed to open in time. Like several of the tragedies we’ve…
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DragonKing Dark: The murder of Tupac Shakur
The 100 darkest moments in pop culture history continues on DragonKing Dark with a look at the shooting death of 25-year-old rapper Tupac Shakur. To say that 2Pac was controversial would be a huge understatement. But, he was also talented and had a giant impact on pop culture. He was also legit when it came…
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DragonKing Dark: The bizarre twists in the death of Elvis
We continue our look at 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history with taking a look at one of the biggest: the death of the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley. Let’s be honest: you probably know everything you want to know about the death of Elvis…or do you? On this episode,…
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DragonKing Dark: The death of Brandon Lee
The next installment in our 100 darkest moments in pop culture history goes back to March 1993 when Brandon Lee, actor and son of legendary pop culture icon Bruce Lee, was killed on the set of the dark gothic comic book inspired movie The Crow — the inspiration for Sting’s dark character in WCW. Gunned…
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DragonKing Dark: The murder of Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell
Pantera was a band with a lot of issues. So many, in fact, that it wasn’t even a band any longer. An incendiary interview in a magazine and a massive failure on the part of mental health services led to one of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history when a disturbed fan entered…
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DragonKing Dark: The Chris Benoit double murder/suicide
As we approach the 14th anniversary of the killing of Nancy and Daniel Benoit by Chris Benoit, who then killed himself, we take a look back at this tragedy as one of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history. This episode, I present an interview I did with Chris & Nancy: The True Story of…
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DragonKing Dark: The day the music died
It was shocking, tragic, and immortalized in song. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper (and nearly Waylon Jennings) were killed in a plane crash during a concert tour. Cut down before their prime years began, the shocking truth is that this was even a bigger tragedy than it seemed due to the potential…
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DragonKing Dark: The Altamont Free Concert disaster
We continue with the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history with a look back at what some have described as Woodstock gone wrong. In 1969, promoters wanted to hold a Woodstock for the west coast headlined by the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, Cosby, Stills & Nash, and others. After moving the location several times,…
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DragonKing Dark: A look at the ‘Assault in the Ring’
Two people were charged with assault for being in a professionally sanctioned boxing match, but how? On this week’s DragonKing Dark, I discuss the seedy story of Luis Resto and Billy Collins, Jr. Resto and his manager conspired not only to remove padding from his gloves, but also to wear casts underneath. Collins never fought…
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DragonKing Dark: The Lynyrd Skynyrd 1977 plane crash
On this week’s DragonKing Dark, I continue our look at 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history. In 1977 and at the height of their popularity, a plane carrying legendary rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd was struck down in Louisiana. Overshadowed in history by the death of Elvis two months earlier, the death of…