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GARAGE TO STADIUMS

GARAGE TO STADIUMS

Written by: Dave Anthony
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About this listen

Garage to Stadiums is one of the Top 5% of podcasts in the world. From the bars to the arenas, learn the fascinating stories of how our biggest rock music legends made the leap. Each episode reveals the stories, songs and little known facts of the journey from obscurity to fame of one of rock music’s biggest stars. Join us on Garage To Stadiums as host Dave Anthony teams up with an author of a rock biography or director of a rock documentary to explore that journey, their early years, the stories behind the scenes, their top songs, and their place in music history. Learn about the passion, talent, luck and even scandal that often came together to propel these stars from obscurity to household names.Blast Furnace Labs Music
Episodes
  • The Story of the Rolling Stones Part 1
    Jan 1 2026

    Experience one of music's big bang moments when 19-year-old Mick Jagger, carrying a handful of RnB albums, ran into Keith Richards on a train platform. Together, they would overcome tragedy, addictions, death and mayhem of all sorts to make it to the top and stay there. This isn't just the tale of a band, it's the saga of survival, reinvention and rebellion, and at its core, it's the story of two kids from Dartford, Mick and Keith, who led The Stones to became undisputed icons of rock and roll. In Part 1 you'll learn.

    1. How fate intervened to bring all of The Stones together as a band
    2. Who really founded The Stones and the strange origins of the band name
    3. The role that two women played in influencing their music
    4. About one of the first famous deaths in rock
    5. The financial mayhem they faced & the role of a mysterious Prince
    6. Some of the factors that drove their dark songs like Gimme Shelter & Sympathy for the Devil

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    Guest Bio
    Christopher Sanford is the author of The Rolling Stones: 60 years, he's written acclaimed biographies of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Paul McCartney, Sting and Kurt Cobain, as well as books on John F Kennedy and Roman Polanski. For more than two decades, he's written about music and film for major media outlets on both sides of the Atlantic. Rolling Stone magazine has called him "the preeminent author in his field".


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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • The Story of The Rolling Stones Part 2
    Jan 1 2026

    In Part 2 of The Story of The Rolling Stones, we journey through the 1970s and ’80s, to experience how The Rolling Stones navigated financial ruin, courtroom battles, and drug-fueled chaos. Their survival and evolution forged their legend—every scar a jewel in the crown they wear today. In Part 2 you'll learn:

    1. How financial problems led to one of their finest albums
    2. About their legendary debaucherous 1972 tour
    3. That the chaos of 1970s New York City played a key role in their sound evolution
    4. Why Mick and Keith's relationship almost came to an end
    5. How one of their most famous tunes started as a reggae song
    6. The innovation The Stones brought to the concert touring model

    Want to learn more music history?
    Subscribe to our bonus Garage to Stadium content across our social + web channels

    Guest Bio
    Christopher Sanford is the author of The Rolling Stones: 60 years, he's written acclaimed biographies of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Paul McCartney, Sting and Kurt Cobain, as well as books on John F Kennedy and Roman Polanski. For more than two decades, he's written about music and film for major media outlets on both sides of the Atlantic. Rolling Stone magazine has called him "the preeminent author in his field".

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    52 mins
  • The Story of U2
    Dec 26 2025

    Incredibly, U2 began as a band of barely-formed teenagers—two 14-year-olds and two 15-year-olds—at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, Ireland. Just 4 years later, they were signed to a major label, and not long after that, they were reshaping rock on a global scale with music driven by faith, politics, and social unrest. U2 would go on to sell more than 175 million albums, never standing still—shifting from raw post-punk urgency to towering arena anthems to daring electronic reinvention. This is a band that survived by constantly changing. In this episode, you’ll learn:

    • The bizarre early incident that nearly ended U2 before it truly began
    • The heartbreaking childhood tragedies that shaped two of its members
    • The unlikely spiritual and political roots behind their lyrical mission
    • The global live performance the band openly hated—yet became legendary
    • The intense internal struggles over where their music should go next
    • How a frontman with barely a high school education became a global humanitarian voice


    Want to learn more music history?
    Subscribe to our bonus Garage to Stadium content across our social + web channels

    Guest Bio:
    Bradley Morgan, author of U2: Until the End of the World. Bradley also has a book U2's Joshua Tree: Planting Roots in Mythic America about their breakthrough album, 1987's The Joshua Tree, a release that put them at the top of international album charts,

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    1 hr and 5 mins
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