REELZ has announced its June 2022 lineup with 11 new original stories including the return of Breaking The Band with the original members of Skid Row, Scorpions and Foreigner sharing their personal stories of the soaring success and rocky breakups of their bands.
Making its return in June is Story Of Their Songs with new original stories about the inspiration, recording and performing of pivotal songs from Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame bands Van Halen, Guns N' Roses and Alice Cooper.
On the cusp of a new tour playing in 36 cities Mötley Crüe is still filling stadiums 41 years later and in the new original two-hour documentary Mötley Crüe's Vince Neil: My Story* (*working title) his children, bandmates and the lead singer and band co-founder himself reveal never been told stories about the life-changing decisions in his life of rock and roll including the successes and devastating setbacks that have shaped his legacy.
Autopsy: The Last Hours Of... returns celebrating the life game-changing guitarist and rock virtuoso Eddie Van Halen from the first time he picked up a guitar to sharing a stage with his son and the battles with his health that he fought to the end.
June premieres shift to sinister true crime stories in Gangsters: America's Most Evil about the criminal enterprise of Hollywood club owner and nightlife king Eddie Nash, crafty and cruel "cocaine cowboy" Miami hitman Jorge Ayala and the bloody reign of Nuestra Familia's Oscar Cabrera.
Every Friday in June features eight back-to-back episodes of the original hit documentary reality series COPS making their REELZ premieres with the unscripted action from the front lines of law enforcement across America and while every Saturday in the month features eight back-to-back episodes of real life series Jail making their REELZ premieres following inmates around the country from their initial booking through their first moments behind bars.
"With new original stories premiering every weekend of the month about some of our favorite rock bands and the record breaking hits we all remember our June premieres are like a concert in your living room," said Steve Cheskin, SVP of Programming at REELZ. "Our music themed stories also delve into why the genius of rock stars is often linked to crippling drug addictions and outlandish behavior with several first-person accounts including Vince Neil sharing an in-depth story of his life at the pinnacle of the chaotic rock and roll world."
June 2022 premieres kick off on Sunday, June 5 with back-to-back stories about the legendary rock band Van Halen and the everlasting legacy of its namesake Eddie Van Halen. Autopsy: The Last Hours Of... "Eddie Van Halen" at 8 PM, ET/ 5 PM, PT is an intimate portrait of the guitar prodigy hailed as one of the greatest of all time. With his scorching guitar skills and unique style he rewrote the rulebook for riffs and with his signature electrifying showmanship he was the driving force behind Van Halen. Away from the spotlight Eddie was at war with himself for decades battling substance abuse. By embracing all of the excess that came with his hard won success did Eddie set into motion what would ultimately take his life? The success of the band Van Halen was stratospheric with more than 80 million records sold and more than $324 million in ticket sales on their way to change the face of rock music over a career spanning four decades.
In Van Halen: Story Of Their Songs on Sunday, June 5 at 9 PM, ET/ 6 PM, PT see the stories of six pivotal songs that were key turning points in the bands' long and eventful career from break out hit "Runnin' With The Devil" and changing musical direction with "Jump" to reinventing their sound in "Why Can't This Be Love?" and mainstream smashes "When It's Love" and "Can't Stop Loving You" along with the experimental and touching "Without You".
In the 1997 movie Boogie Nights Alfred Molina plays a looney nightclub owner with a bad cocaine habit in a character that was loosely based on Hollywood hotshot Eddie Nash. For decades Nash eluded authorities as the cocaine addicted king of nightclubs in Hollywood who ran drugs through his many properties in the 1970s and 1980s. Nash also had a terrifyingly violent side. In Gangsters: America's Most Evil "Eddie Nash 'King of Wonderland'" on Tuesday, June 7 at 9 PM, ET/ 6 PM, PT presents the story of the man who was atop the Hollywood drug scene and the brutality he used to enforce his reign. The hedonistic and lawless club scenes of the late 1980s along the Sunset Strip were a part of Nash's legacy and served as the perfect backdrop for the debut of the uncompromising and controversial Guns N' Roses with their forceful hit "Welcome To The Jungle" with lyrics and music video depicting the rougher side of life in LA.
In Guns N' Roses: Story Of Their Songs on Sunday, June 12 at 8 PM, ET/ 5 PM, PT see the stories behind six of their songs that transformed rock music including "Welcome To The Jungle", the anthemic "Paradise City", epic tender ballads "Don't Cry" and "Patience", the nine-minute masterpiece "November Rain" and the song that made them global superstars in "Sweet Child O' Mine."
The hit television series Miami Vice made its debut in the fall of 1984 as a stylish crime drama that combined the lush music and scenery of Miami with the dark and deadly reality of its crime. In 1981 there were 621 murders in Miami and hitman Jorge Rivi Ayala and other infamous "cocaine cowboys" contributed to that grim total. In Gangsters: America's Most Evil "Jorge 'Rivi' Ayala" on Tuesday, June 14 at 9 PM, ET/ 6 PM, PT see the story of the vicious cartel hitman who became the top assassin for the brutal Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco as she infiltrated the Miami drug scene.
Sunday, June 19 sees a primetime lineup of three back-to-back rock and roll stories about the rise and fall of Foreigner and Scorpions along with the stories of three songs that defined Alice Cooper.
By 1978 Foreigner was the quickly becoming the biggest rock band in the world. They were jukebox heroes providing a hard rocking soundtrack to their generation and their 1983 chart topping hit "I Want to Know What Love Is" rockets the band to superstardom but was a new style for them. The battle lines are drawn over the musical direction of the band and the creative clashes between founder Mick Jones and vocalist Lou Gramm become massive divides. In Foreigner: Breaking The Band on Sunday, June 19 at 8 PM, ET/ 5 PM, PT Gramm gives his first-hand account of the whopping success of their debut album and the uneasy truces with Jones to keep the music playing.
While creative differences weren't a crux for the Scorpions their Achilles heel was a high-octane lifestyle that matched their blistering sound. In Scorpions: Breaking The Band on Sunday, June 19 at 9 PM, ET/ 6 PM< PT four original members Rudolf Schenker, Herman Rarebell, Matthias Jabs and Klaus Meine give an unfiltered look at the band's five decade history that led to more than 100 million albums sold worldwide from the rush of breaking big in America to facing down the perilous unknown of lead singer Meine losing his voice and requiring high-risk surgery.
The final performer of the Sunday, June 19 trifecta of rock music stories is Alice Cooper: Story Of The Songs at 10 PM, ET/ 7 PM< PT spotlighting the stories behind the iconic and rebellious 1972 hit "School's Out", the groundbreaking change of direction Cooper channeled for the "Welcome to My Nightmare" single and album and the career redefining megahit love song with a twist in "Poison". With one of the most enduring and talked about careers in rock history Cooper shocked fans with his revolutionary and controversial stage shows but what was the inspiration behind three of the songs that cemented his legacy?
In 1992 Edward James Olmos starred as a Mexican American Mafia kingpin in the movie American Me a fictional account of the Mexican Mafia inside the California prison system. That same year 15-year-old Oscar Cabrera was just another kid growing up in tough rural farming town of Watsonville California. As a smart, charismatic natural born leader Cabrera sought more from life than working fields and within a few years in his early twenties he'd become the local shot caller for Nuestra Familia, the real-life violent criminal organization that grew from within the California prison system. Gangsters: America's Most Evil "'Baby Joker' Oscar Cabrera" on Tuesday, June 21 at 9 PM, ET/ 6 PM, PT presents Cabrera's story within the history of Nuestra Familia and the shocking and violent end to his ties with the organization. Where his ambition and charisma led Cabrera to a life of crime those same traits led Vince Neil to redefine what it meant to be a rockstar.
In Mötley Crüe's Vince Neil: My Story* (*working title) on Sunday, June 26 at 8 PM, ET/ 5 PM, PT the Mötley Crüe frontman gives a revealing account of his journey to global stardom with never before told stories including his 45-year friendship with drummer Tommy Lee, overcoming addictions, going solo and his roller coaster ride with Mötley Crüe that led to more than 100 million albums sold.
When Neil was fired from Mötley Crüe in 1992 it was rumored that Skid Row lead singer Sebastian Bach was asked to replace him but that never happened. Still, Bach had long fit the wild prototype of a rock star. An 18-year-old Bach was a formidable young talent plagued by a combination of attitude, swagger and a short fuse. After being scouted singing at a wedding Bach was made lead singer of hard rock band Skid Row.
In Skid Row: Breaking The Band on Sunday, June 26 at 10 PM, ET/ 7 PM, PT original members and co-founders Rachel Bolan and Dave 'Snake' Sabo along with Bach and manager Doc McGhee give a first-hand account of how Skid Row burst onto the scene in the late 1980s setting the charts ablaze and bringing MTV metal to the masses. They also give their own take on the volatile and unpredictable Bach who in his own words recounts the wildest moments in the band's turbulent ride and what became the final straw that broke the back of Skid Row.
REELZ is a leading independent cable and satellite general entertainment network focused on celebrity culture with poignant stories about Hollywood in revealing documentaries and character profiles of the famous and infamous. Programming ranges from the critically acclaimed and award-winning The Kennedys to Real Story of... revealing the true stories behind hit movies including American Made and Selena. Along with shows about movies, fame and celebrity lifestyles the network is also home to true crime stories and Autopsy: The Last Hours Of... which examines the final days of popular celebrities from Lucille Ball to Prince.
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