Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys[a] was an American hip hop/rap rock[2] group from New York City, formed in 1981.[3] The group was composed of Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums, programming). Beastie Boys were formed out of members of experimental hardcore punk band The Young Aborigines, which was formed in 1979, with Diamond on drums, Jeremy Shatan on bass guitar, John Berry on guitar, and Kate Schellenbach later joining on percussion.[4] When Shatan left New York City in the summer of 1981, Yauch replaced him on bass and the resulting band was named Beastie Boys. Berry left shortly thereafter and was replaced by Horovitz.
Beastie Boys
New York City, U.S.
1981–2012
The Young Aborigines (1979–1981)
After achieving local success with the 1983 comedy hip hop single "Cooky Puss", Beastie Boys made a full transition to hip hop, and Schellenbach left. They toured with Madonna in 1985 and a year later released their debut album, Licensed to Ill (1986), the first rap album to top the Billboard 200 chart.[5] Their second album, Paul's Boutique (1989), composed almost entirely of samples, was a commercial failure that later received critical acclaim. Check Your Head (1992) and Ill Communication (1994) found mainstream success, followed by Hello Nasty (1998), To the 5 Boroughs (2004), The Mix-Up (2007), and Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (2011).
Beastie Boys have sold 20 million records in the United States and had seven platinum-selling albums from 1986 to 2004.[6] They are the biggest-selling rap group since Billboard began recording sales in 1991.[7] In 2012, they became the third rap group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the same year, Yauch died of cancer and Beastie Boys disbanded.[8] The remaining members have released several retrospective works, including a book, a documentary, and a career-spanning compilation album.
History[edit]
1979–1983: Formation and early years[edit]
Prior to forming Beastie Boys, Michael Diamond was part of a number of bands such as the Walden Jazz Band, BAN, and the Young Aborigines. Beastie Boys formed in July 1981 when the Young Aborigines bassist Jeremy Shatan left New York City for the summer and the remaining members Diamond, John Berry and Kate Schellenbach formed a new hardcore punk band with Adam Yauch.[9]
In a 2007 interview with Charlie Rose, Yauch recalled that it was Berry who suggested the name Beastie Boys.[10] Although the band stated that "Beastie" is an acronym standing for "Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Inner Excellence",[11] in the Charlie Rose interview, both Yauch and Diamond acknowledged that the acronym was an "afterthought" conceived after the name was chosen.[10] The band supported Bad Brains, the Dead Kennedys,[12] the Misfits[13] and Reagan Youth at venues such as CBGB, A7, Trude Heller's and Max's Kansas City, playing at the latter venue on its closing night. In November 1982, Beastie Boys recorded the 7-inch EP Polly Wog Stew at 171A studios, an early recorded example of New York hardcore.[14][15][16]
On November 13, 1982, Beastie Boys played Philip Pucci's birthday for the purposes of his short concert film, Beastie.[17] Pucci held the concert in Bard College's Preston Drama Dance Department Theatre. This performance marked Beastie Boys' first on-screen appearance in a published motion picture. Pucci's concept for Beastie was to distribute a mixture of both a half dozen 16 mm Bell & Howell Filmo cameras, and 16 mm Bolex cameras to audience members and ask that they capture Beastie Boys performance from the audience's own point of view while a master sync sound camera filmed from the balcony of the abandoned theater where the performance was held.[17] The opening band for that performance was the Young and the Useless, which featured Adam Horovitz as the lead singer. A one-minute clip of Beastie was subsequently excerpted and licensed by Beastie Boys for use in the "Egg Raid on Mojo" segment of the "Skills to Pay the Bills" long-form home video released by Capitol Records. "Skills to Pay the Bills" later went on to be certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Berry left the group in 1982 (later forming Thwig, Big Fat Love and Bourbon Deluxe) and was replaced by Horovitz, who had become close friends with Beastie Boys.
The band also recorded and then performed its first hip hop track, "Cooky Puss", based on a prank call by the group to a Carvel Ice Cream franchise in 1983.[18] It was a part of the new lineup's first EP, also called Cooky Puss, which was the first piece of work that showed their incorporation of the underground rap phenomenon and the use of samples. It quickly became a hit in New York underground dance clubs and night clubs. After "Beastie Revolution" was later sampled in a British Airways commercial, Beastie Boys threatened to sue them over the use of the song, and the airline immediately paid them $40,000 in royalties.[19]
1984–1987: Def Jam years and Licensed to Ill[edit]
Following the success of "Cooky Puss", the band began to incorporate rap into their sets. They hired a DJ for their live shows, New York University student Rick Rubin, who began producing records soon thereafter. "I met Mike first," Rubin recalled. "I thought he was an arrogant asshole. Through spending time with the Beasties I grew to see that they had this great sense of humor. It wasn't that they were assholes, and even if it was, they were funny with it."[20] Rubin formed Def Jam Recordings with fellow NYU student Russell Simmons, and approached the band about producing them for his new label. As the band was transitioning to hip hop, Schellenbach was fired in 1984,[21] with Diamond taking over on drums. In their 2018 memoir, Ad-Rock expressed regret for firing Schellenbach, which he attributed to her not fitting with the "new tough-rapper-guy identity".[22]
Musical style, influences, and legacy[edit]
Originally a hardcore punk band,[130][131] Beastie Boys had largely abandoned the genre in favor of hip hop and rap rock[132][133][134][135] by the time work began on their debut studio album Licensed to Ill. The group mixed elements of hip hop, punk, funk, electro, jazz and Latin music into their music.[132] They have also been described as alternative hip hop[136][137][138] and punk rap.[139]
Around the time of the release of their debut album, Licensed to Ill, Mike D started to appear on stage and in publicity photographs wearing a large Volkswagen emblem attached to a chain-link necklace. This started a rash of thefts of the emblem from vehicles around the world as fans tried to emulate him.[140][141] A controversial concert in Columbus, Georgia in 1987 led to the passage of a lewdness ordinance in that city.[142]
Beastie Boys are considered very influential in both the hip hop and rock music scenes, with artists such as Eminem,[143] Rage Against the Machine,[144] Hed PE,[145] Limp Bizkit,[146] Sublime,[147] and Blur[148] citing them as an influence. Beastie Boys have had four albums reach the top of the Billboard album charts (Licensed to Ill, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty and To the 5 Boroughs) since 1986.[149] In the November 2004 issue, Rolling Stone named "Sabotage" the 475th song on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.[150]
In their April 2005 issue, Rolling Stone ranked them number 77 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[151] VH1 ranked them number 89 on their list of their 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[152] On September 27, 2007, it was announced that Beastie Boys were one of the nine nominees for the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductions.[153] In December 2011, they were announced to be official 2012 inductees.[154]
Beastie Boys have many high-profile longtime fans, including Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White, who has a hand-signed bass guitar signed by all three members in his office and a copy of the Beastie Boys book.[155] Speaking on the death of Adam Yauch, White said, "I seriously haven't been impacted by a death in a long time like I was with the Beastie Boys".[156] Actor Seth Rogen, who appeared in the video for "Make Some Noise", also said, "I'm a huge Beastie Boys fan and they just called and asked if I wanted to be a part of it, and I said yes without hesitation. I didn't need to hear anything. I didn't need to see anything, any concepts. I was just like, 'I will literally do anything you ask me to do".[157] Ben Stiller was seen in the crowd for the DVD release Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! and featured Horovitz in his movie While We're Young, where he said, "I'm a huge Beastie Boys fan, so doing that, for me, was beyond anything".[158] Eminem was highly influenced by the Beastie Boys and cited them alongside LL Cool J as being the reason he got into rap. During an interview with MTV after the death of Yauch, he said, "Adam Yauch brought a lot of positivity into the world and I think it's obvious to anyone how big of an influence the Beastie Boys were on me and so many others. They are trailblazers and pioneers and Adam will be sorely missed. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, Mike D., and Ad-Rock."[159] His album cover for Kamikaze paid homage to Licensed to Ill[160] and he also paid homage in his "Berzerk" video.[161] In an interview with Rolling Stone, Beavis and Butt-Head creator Mike Judge acknowledged he was a fan of the band, citing his favorite song as "Fight for Your Right",[162] as the Beastie Boys appeared on Beavis and Butt-Head on numerous occasions.[163] Kid Rock wrote an in-depth tribute to Yauch after being influenced by the band, which said, "I thought I was the 4th member of Beastie Boys in 7th grade. You couldn't tell me I wasn't. The first time I ever saw them on stage was a very early show of theirs before Licensed to Ill came out, opening for Run DMC at Joe Louis Arena. My jaw dropped to the floor!"[164]
In 2020, Spin Magazine ranked Beastie Boys as the 12th most influential artist of the previous 35 years.[165]
In 2022, the New York City Council voted to rename the intersection of Ludlow and Rivington streets in Manhattan’s Lower East Side - the location of the Paul’s Boutique album cover - “Beastie Boys Square”.[166] The vote was result of a grassroots campaign started in 2013 by historian LeRoy McCarthy.[167] The proposed renaming was voted down when first proposed in 2014, but was accepted on July 14, 2022.[168] The square was renamed on September 9, 2023, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of hip hop.[169]
Studio albums
