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DISGRACELAND

The Temptations Pt 2: The Tammi Terrell Tragedy

DISGRACELAND

Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture, Music, True Crime

4.613.4K Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When Motown singer Tammi Terrell died at the age of 24, Marvin Gaye was the only one from her label allowed at her funeral. The rest – especially her former boyfriend, the Tempations’ David Ruffin – were banned. So what happened between them? The answer lies in a story of fame, furs, cocaine, and a scandal that still casts a shadow over soul music. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.disgracelandpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sadly, there is a long list of mistreated women throughout music history - was Tammi Terrell the most mistreated of them all? What do you think? Tell Jake at 617-906-6638, disgracelandpod@gmail.com, or on socials @disgracelandpod. To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get access to a monthly exclusive episode, weekly bonus content and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at ⁠⁠⁠⁠disgracelandpod.com/membership⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - ⁠⁠⁠⁠GET THE NEWSLETTER⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠ (formerly Twitter)  ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook Fan Group⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Double Elvis.

0:07.3

If you feel like modern music culture doesn't reflect what you care about, then you're not alone.

0:12.8

Disgraceland listeners realize that Kazam, a corporate algorithmic studio storytelling machine,

0:17.8

keeps trying to sanitize music history, stripping out the true crime.

0:22.7

Disgraceland exists to take these stories back, and now you can wear that rebellion by sporting

0:28.0

some of our new merch. Long and short sleeve, just say no to Kazm T-shirts, Disgraceland

0:33.3

hoodies, and our zombie Elvis Johnny Paycheck-approved black trucker hat. Our merch, like our

0:39.2

content, is built for the musically obsessed. The self-proclaimed discos who know that real

0:44.7

music history is dangerous and far cooler than whatever the hell mainstream music culture

0:49.6

is serving us up right now. This merch is way cool. I would wear every item in the shop. It's an exclusive

0:56.1

and limited run. It's only available until September 30th, so order yours now at shop disgraceland.com.

1:04.0

This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. Please check the show

1:08.9

notes for more information.

1:11.7

Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis.

1:30.3

This is a story about voices. Voices that were meant to sing in perfect harmony, but instead lied and betrayed.

1:37.3

It's about believing in the lie and burying the lie and about what happens when the lie can no longer be silenced. It's a story about

1:45.8

suits, furs, a pair of Dobermans with gangster names, and a star, Tammy Terrell, who lit up

1:53.2

every room she walked into and whose voice made Marvin Gay cry. It's also a story about the man

2:00.2

who nearly destroyed her,

2:01.8

a walking, talking, coked up time bomb and horned rims and sequins.

2:06.5

This is a story about the temptations,

2:09.6

and the disgrace they never sang about.

...

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