Hey, it's Alan, and I just wanted to let you know that you can now listen to the ongoing

history of new music early and ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime.

The human body can be both very strong and very fragile.

Given its complexity, it generally works pretty well, but there are those among us who face challenges because of various

disabilities. Some of these are genetic. Others come as the result of accidents, trauma, or some other kind of

misfortune. And then there's the effect of disease. It can be very rough. There can be discrimination,

and there can be a lot of misunderstanding.

At the same time, though, there are opportunities for learning and compassion and dialogue about what some of our fellow human beings need in this life.

And just as important, what special things they can offer back.

Musicians are just like the rest of us,

subject to the whims and frailties of this bag of water and chemicals that we inhabit.

Here are some of their stories.

This is the ongoing history of new music podcast with Alan Cross.

Hello again, I'm Alan Cross.

December 3rd is the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Since 1992, its goal has been to empower persons with disabilities to ensure equality and inclusiveness around the planet.

Lots of projects aimed at awareness and providing dignity,

the rights of the disabled, and their general well-being. With that in mind, I thought we'd go

through a list of some famous alt-rock musicians who have had their own physical and mental

challenges. We want our musical heroes to be immortal and indestructible, but the truth is that they're every bit as human as us when it comes to their physical and mental makeup.

Let's start with Joey Ramon. He might have been the archetypical New York punk, but he had issues. First, he had a very bad case of OCD, the kind where he had to perform certain rituals before he could move on, like checking to make sure he locked his apartment door over and over and over again, or this was a big one, stepping on and off a curb a specified number of times before he could keep going.

This is a quote from his brother Mickey.

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