A new report from Business Insider (titled How rich musicians billed American taxpayers for luxury hotels, shopping sprees, and million-dollar bonuses) has called out several acts across multiple genres, including Alice in Chains and Shinedown, scrutinizing pandemic relief payouts.
In some of the other cases highlighted in the report, there were clear misuse of pandemic funds for personal benefit.
For instance, the investigation uncovered that rapper Lil’ Wayne spent $1.3 million of his $8.9 million grant to cover private jet flights, while spending another $460,000 on clothes and accessories from high end clothing labels. The report also notes pop star Chris Brown spent $80,000 on a birthday party, while claiming $5.1 million of his company’s $10 million grant for himself.
In other cases, such as with Shinedown and Alice in Chains, the report did not reveal any such luxurious extravagances, but it does indicate how both bands had members taking million dollar-plus sums of the grant money for themselves.
Where the Grant Money Came From
The money that was doled out to musicians came from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant that was signed into law during the Trump administration. According to Business Insider, the program was designed to help independent venues and arts groups who were struggling during the pandemic.
With a forced break from touring, bands were left without their primary livelihood. But soon, some of those responsible for band finances figured out that even premiere, big name music acts could be eligible for grant money through loan-out companies.
There were eligibility requirements that had to be met. Per the report, grantees could receive up to $10 million to spend on “ordinary or necessary” expenses for their business. In order to do so, they had to make a good-faith statement to the Small Business Administration that the grant was necessary to support the loan-out company’s “ongoing operations” and show that revenue had dropped by at least 25 percent between one quarter in 2019 and the same quarter in 2020.
The Small Business Administration claims they followed the law with the grant disbursements. The law directed the organization to examine a band’s revenue, not their assets. So as long as their loan-out company could show revenue had declined, the bands could be eligible.
Where Did Alice in Chains’ Grant Money Go?
Per the Business Insider report, Alice in Chains singer-guitarist Jerry Cantrell allegedly received $1.4 million as an “SVOG distribution” per records from a March 23, 2022 transaction. Fellow founding drummer Sean Kinney also received the same amount, while bassist Mike Inez, who joined the band later in their career, received $682.000.
That total amounts to $3.4 million of the $4.1 million the band reportedly received in the grant.
The band’s AIC Entertainment that is run by the three longtime members had to make their case that the money was “necessary.”
But the report notes that a month before they took their grant payments, the group recorded a $48 million income by selling the rights to their music catalog. They also reportedly made hundreds of thousands of dollars more from merchandise sales and other distributions in 2022.
READ MORE: The Biggest Selling Rock Album of 2024 May Surprise You
The report does credit the band with spending some of the money to pay their staff, while hundreds of thousands went to sound equipment rental firms, videographers and managers.
In a sad part of the report, it’s noted that the band’s guitar tech and photographer Scott Dachroeden had been diagnosed with cancer in late 2022. But as the band did not use the grant money on benefits, Dachroeden was without health insurance. The group set up a GoFundMe to help with the costs and later connected him with a charity that helps with medical bills, but the tech died not long after his diagnosis.
Loudwire reached out to representatives for Alice in Chains for comment. As of press time, no response has been received.
Where Did Shinedown’s Grant Money Go?
Much like Alice in Chains, the Business Insider report claims that three of Shinedown’s four members took a majority of the grant money.
Of the $8.3 million grant, the report says that at least $2.5 million went to the three members, while all four members of the band got an additional $100,000 each from the $1.2 million that was allocated for payroll.
The breakdown notes that 15 touring production workers received a combined $650,000 of the grant money, which is less than any single member of the band got. This is roughly $43,000 per worker.
Loudwire reached out to representatives for Shinedown for comment. As of press time, no response has been received.
The full Business Insider report that also names such acts as Steve Aoki, Marshmello and Rae Sremmurd can be read in full here.
The 51 Best Rock + Metal Albums of 2024
Loudwire’s writers recap the best rock and metal albums of the year. See which of your favorites are here!
Contributing Authors: Chuck Armstrong, Jordan Blum, Rob Carroll, Chad Childers, Joe DiVita, John Hill, Lauryn Schaffner
Gallery Credit: Loudwire Staff
