Beastie Boys | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Discography | Beastie Boys discography |
| Years active | 1979–2012 |
| Labels | |
| Spinoffs | |
| Spinoff of | The Young Aborigines |
| Past members | |
| Website | beastieboys |
TheBeastie Boys were an Americanhip hop andrap rock group formed inNew York City in 1979.[1] They were composed ofAdam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar),Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), andMichael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums). The Beastie Boys were formed out of members of experimentalhardcore punk band the Young Aborigines, which was formed in 1979, with Diamond on drums, Jeremy Shatan on bass guitar,John Berry on guitar, andKate Schellenbach later joining on percussion.[2] When Shatan left New York City in mid-1981, Yauch replaced him on bass and the resulting band was named the Beastie Boys. Berry left shortly thereafter and was replaced by Horovitz.
After achieving local success with the 1983comedy hip hop single "Cooky Puss", the Beastie Boys made a full transition tohip hop, and Schellenbach left. They toured withMadonna in 1985 and a year later released their debut album,Licensed to Ill (1986), the first rap album to top theBillboard 200 chart.[3] Their second album,Paul's Boutique (1989), composed almost entirely ofsamples, was a commercial failure that later received critical acclaim.Check Your Head (1992) andIll Communication (1994) found mainstream success, followed byHello Nasty (1998),To the 5 Boroughs (2004),The Mix-Up (2007), andHot Sauce Committee Part Two (2011).
The Beastie Boys have sold 20 million records in the United States and had sevenplatinum-selling albums from 1986 to 2004.[4] They are the biggest-selling rap group sinceBillboard began recording sales in 1991.[5] In 2012, they became the third rap group to be inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the same year, Yauch died of cancer and the Beastie Boys disbanded.[6] The remaining members have released several retrospective works, including a book, a documentary, and a career-spanning compilation album.
Prior to forming the Beastie Boys,Michael Diamond was part of a number of bands such as theWalden Jazz Band, and BAN. The Beastie Boys formed in 1979 as the Young Aborigines. In 1981, when the Young Aborigines bassist Jeremy Shatan left New York City for the summer, the remaining members Diamond,John Berry andKate Schellenbach began to perform withAdam Yauch.[7]
In a 2007 interview withCharlie Rose, Yauch recalled that it was Berry who suggested the name the Beastie Boys.[8] Although the band stated that "Beastie" is an acronym standing for "Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Inner Excellence",[9] in the Charlie Rose interview, both Yauch and Diamond acknowledged that the acronym was an "afterthought" conceived after the name was chosen.[8] The band supportedBad Brains, theDead Kennedys,[10] theMisfits[11] andReagan Youth at venues such asCBGB, A7,Trude Heller's andMax's Kansas City, playing at the latter venue on its closing night. In November 1982, the Beastie Boys recorded the7-inch EPPolly Wog Stew at 171A studios, an early recorded example ofNew York hardcore.[12][13][14]
On November 13, 1982, the Beastie Boys played Philip Pucci's birthday for the purposes of his short concert film,Beastie.[15] Pucci held the concert inBard College's Preston Drama Dance Department Theatre. This performance marked the Beastie Boys' first on-screen appearance in a published motion picture. Pucci's concept forBeastie was to distribute a mixture of both a half dozen 16 mmBell & Howell Filmo cameras, and 16 mmBolex cameras to audience members and ask that they capture the 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.[15] The opening band for that performance wasthe Young and the Useless, which featuredAdam Horovitz as the lead singer. A one-minute clip ofBeastie was subsequently excerpted and licensed by the Beastie Boys for use in the "Egg Raid on Mojo" segment of the "Skills to Pay the Bills" long-form home video released byCapitol 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 the Beastie Boys.
The band also recorded and then performed its first hip hop track, "Cooky Puss", based on aprank call by the group to aCarvel Ice Cream franchise in 1983.[16] It was a part of the new lineup's first EP, also calledCooky Puss, which was the first piece of work that showed their incorporation of the undergroundrap 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 aBritish Airways commercial, the Beastie Boys threatened to sue them over the use of the song, and the airline immediately paid them $40,000 in royalties.[17]
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 studentRick 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."[18] Rubin formedDef Jam Recordings withRussell 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,[19] 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".[20]
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The band's 12-inch single "Rock Hard" (1984) was the second Def Jam record crediting Rubin as producer (the first was "It's Yours" byT La Rock andJazzy Jay). During 1985, the group was the supporting act ofthe Virgin Tour,Madonna's first concert series.[21] On July 22, 1986, the Beastie Boys opened forJohn Lydon's post-Sex Pistols bandPublic Image Ltd.,[22] They headlined withFishbone andMurphy's Law withDJ Hurricane, and later in the year the group was on theRaising Hell tour withRun-DMC,Whodini,LL Cool J, and theTimex Social Club. Thanks to this exposure, "Hold It Now, Hit It" charted onBillboard's US R&B and dance charts.[23] "She's on It" from theKrush Groove soundtrack continued in a rap/metal vein while a double A-side 12", "Paul Revere/The New Style", was released at the end of the year.[citation needed]
The band recordedLicensed to Ill in 1986 and released it on November 15, 1986. The album was favorably reviewed byRolling Stone magazine.Licensed to Ill became one of the best-selling rap albums of the 1980s and the first rap album to go number 1 on theBillboard 200 chart, where it stayed for five weeks. It also reached number 2 on the Top R&B album chart.[24] It was Def Jam's fastest selling debut record to date and sold over nine-million copies. The fourth single, "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)", reached number 7 on the USBillboard Hot 100. Although the group has sold over 26-million records in the US, this is their only single to peak in the US top ten or top twenty. The accompanying video (directed byRic Menello andAdam Dubin[25][26]) became an MTV staple.[27] Another song from the album, "No Sleep till Brooklyn", peaked at number 14 on theUK Singles Chart.[28]
The band took theLicensed to Ill tour around the world the following year. The tour was troubled by lawsuits and arrests, with the band accused of provoking the crowd. This culminated in a notorious gig at theRoyal Court Theatre, Liverpool, England, on May 30, 1987, that erupted into a riot approximately 10 minutes after the group hit the stage and the arrest of Adam Horovitz byMerseyside Police. He was charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm.[29]
In 1988, the Beastie Boys appeared inTougher Than Leather, a film directed by Rubin as astar vehicle forRun-D.M.C. and Def Jam Recordings. After Def Jam stopped paying them for work they had already done and were owed money for, the Beastie Boys left Def Jam and signed withCapitol Records.[30]
The second Beastie Boys album,Paul's Boutique, was released on July 25, 1989. Produced by theDust Brothers, it blends eclecticsamples and has been described as an early work ofexperimental hip hop.[31] It failed to match the sales ofLicensed to Ill,[31] reaching number 14 on the US album charts,[32] but later attracted acclaim;[31][33]Rolling Stone ranked it number 156 on its list of the500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[34] It also made it onto theApple Music 100 Best Albums list at number 48.[35]
Check Your Head was recorded in the band'sG-Son studio inAtwater Village, California, and released on itsGrand Royal record label.[36] The band was influenced to play instruments on this album by Dutch groupUrban Dance Squad; with Mike D on drums, Yauch on bass, Horovitz on guitar and Mark Ramos Nishita ("Keyboard Money Mark") on keyboards.Mario Caldato, Jr., who had helped in the production ofPaul's Boutique, engineered the record and became a longtime collaborator.Check Your Head was released in 1992 and was certified double Platinum in the US and peaked at number 10 on theBillboard 200.[32] The single "So What'cha Want" reached number 93 on theBillboard Hot 100[37] and charted on both the Rap andModern Rock Chart,[38] while the album's first single, "Pass the Mic", peaked at number 38 on the Hot Dance Music chart.[38] The album also introduced a more experimental direction, withfunk andjazz inspired songs including "Lighten Up" and "Something's Got to Give". The band returned to their hardcore punk roots for the song "Time for Livin'", a cover of a 1974Sly and the Family Stone song. The addition of instruments and the harder rock sound of the album could be considered a precursor to thenu metal genre of music to come out in the later half of the 1990s.[36][39][40]
The Beastie Boys signed an eclectic roster of artists to theirGrand Royal label, includingLuscious Jackson,Sean Lennon, and Australian artistBen Lee. The group owned Grand Royal Records until 2001. Grand Royal's first independent release was Luscious Jackson's albumIn Search of Manny in 1993. Also in 1993, the band contributed the track "It's the New Style" (withDJ Hurricane) to the AIDS benefit albumNo Alternative, produced by theRed Hot Organization.[41]
The Beastie Boys also publishedGrand Royal Magazine, which ran for six issues between 1993 and 1997,[42] the first issue featuring a cover story onBruce Lee, artwork byGeorge Clinton, and interviews withKareem Abdul-Jabbar andA Tribe Called Quest's MCQ-Tip.[citation needed] The 1995 issue of the magazine contained a piece on themullet. TheOxford English Dictionary cites this as the first published use of the term, along with the lyrics from the band's 1994 song, "Mullet Head". That term was not heard in the 1980s, even though that decade has retroactively been hailed as the mullet's peak in popularity. TheOED says that the term was "apparently coined, and certainly popularized, by US hip-hop group Beastie Boys".[43]
Ill Communication, released in 1994, saw the Beastie Boys' return to the top of the charts when the album debuted at number 1 on theBillboard 200[32] and peaked at number 2 on the R&B/hip hop album chart.[24] The single "Sabotage" became a hit on themodern rock charts and the music video, directed bySpike Jonze, received extensive play on MTV.[44] Also in 1994, the band releasedSome Old Bullshit, featuring the band's early independent material, which made it to number 46 on theBillboard Independent Albums chart.[45]
The Beastie Boys headlined atLollapalooza—an American travelling music festival—in 1994, together withthe Smashing Pumpkins. In addition, the band performed three concerts (in Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, D.C.) to raise money for theMilarepa Fund and dedicated theroyalties from "Shambala" and "Bodhisattva Vow" fromIll Communication to the cause. The Milarepa Fund aims to raise awareness ofTibetan human rights issues and the exile of theDalai Lama. In 1996, Yauch organized the largest rock benefit show since 1985'sLive Aid – theTibetan Freedom Concert, a two-day festival atGolden Gate Park in San Francisco that attracted over 100,000 attendees.[46]
In 1995, the popularity of the Beastie Boys was underlined when tickets for an arena tour went on sale in the US andMadison Square Garden and Chicago'sRosemont Horizon sold out within 30 minutes.[47] One dollar from each ticket sold went through Milarepa to local charities in each city on the tour.[48] The Beastie Boys toured South America and Southeast Asia for the first time. The band also releasedAglio e Olio (Italian for "Garlic and Oil"), a collection of eight songs lasting just 11 minutes harking back to their punk roots, in 1995.The In Sound from Way Out!, a collection of previously releasedjazz/funk instrumentals, was released on Grand Royal in 1996 with the title and artwork a homage toan album by electronic pop music pioneersPerrey and Kingsley.[citation needed]
In 1992, the Beastie Boys decided to sample portions of the sound recording of "Choir" byJames Newton in various renditions of their song "Pass the Mic". The band did not obtain a license from Newton to use the composition. Pursuant to their license from ECM Records, the Beastie Boys digitally sampled the opening six seconds of Newton's sound recording of "Choir", and repeated this six-second sample as a background element throughout their song.[49] Newton brought suit, claiming that the band infringed his copyright in the underlying composition of "Choir". The district court granted the Beastie Boys summary judgment.[50] The district court said that no license was required because the three-note segment of "Choir" lacked the requisite originality and was therefore not copyrightable. The decision was affirmed on appeal.[50]
The Beastie Boys began work on the albumHello Nasty at the G-Son studios, Los Angeles in 1995, but continued to produce and record it in New York City after Yauch moved to Manhattan in 1996.[51] The album displayed a substantial shift in musical feel, with the addition ofMix Master Mike. The album featured bombastic beats, rap samples, and experimental sounds.[52] Released on July 14, 1998,Hello Nasty earned first week sales of 681,000 in the US[53] and went straight to number 1 in the US, the UK, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden.[32][54][55][56][57] The album achieved number 2 rank on the charts in Canada[58] and Japan,[59] and reached top-ten chart positions in Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Belgium, Finland, France and Israel.[60]
The Beastie Boys won twoGrammy Awards in 1999, receiving theGrammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album forHello Nasty as well as theGrammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Intergalactic".[61] This was the first time that a band had won awards in both rap and alternative categories.[62]
At the1998 MTV Video Music Awards, the Beastie Boys won theMichael Jackson Video Vanguard Award for their contributions to music videos.[63] The following year at the1999 MTV Video Music Awards, they also won the award for Best Hip Hop Video for their hit song "Intergalactic".[64] The Beastie Boys used both appearances at the Video Music Awards to make politically charged speeches of considerable length to the sizable MTV audiences.[65] At the 1998 ceremony, Yauch addressed the issue of Muslim people being stereotyped as terrorists and that most people of the Muslim faith are not terrorists.[66] These comments were made in the wake of theUS Embassy bombings that had occurred in bothKenya andTanzania only a month earlier. At the 1999 ceremony in the wake of the horror stories that were coming out ofWoodstock 99, Adam Horovitz addressed the fact that there had been many cases of sexual assaults and rapes at the festival, suggesting the need for bands and festivals to pay much more attention to the security details at their concerts.[65]
The Beastie Boys started an arena tour in 1998. Through Ian C. Rogers,[67] the band made live downloads of their performances available for their fans, but were temporarily thwarted when Capitol Records removed them from its website.[68] The Beastie Boys was one of the first bands who made MP3 downloads available on their website.[69][62] The group got a high level of response and public awareness as a result including a published article inThe Wall Street Journal on the band's efforts.[70]
The Beastie Boys releasedThe Sounds of Science, a two-CD anthology of their works in 1999. This album reached number 19 on theBillboard 200,[32] number 18 in Canada,[58] and number 14 on the R&B/Hip Hop chart.[23] The one new song, the single "Alive", reached number 11 on theBillboard Modern Rock chart.[71]
In 2000, the Beastie Boys had planned to co-headline the Rhyme and Reason Tour withRage Against the Machine andBusta Rhymes, but the tour was canceled when drummer Mike D sustained a serious injury due to a bicycle accident.[72] The official diagnosis was fifth-degreeacromioclavicular joint dislocation; he needed surgery and extensive rehabilitation. By the time he recovered, Rage Against the Machine had disbanded, although they would reunite seven years later.[73]
Under the name Country Mike, Mike D recorded an album,Country Mike's Greatest Hits, and gave it to friends and family for Christmas in 2000.[74] Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz's side projectBS 2000 releasedSimply Mortified in 2001.[75] In October 2001, after theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks, the Beastie Boys organized and headlined the New Yorkers Against Violence Concert at theHammerstein Ballroom.[76]
In 2002, Adam Yauch started building a new studio facility,Oscilloscope Laboratories, in downtownManhattan, New York[77] and the band started work on a new album there. The band released aprotest song, "In a World Gone Mad", against the2003 Iraq war as a free download on several websites, including the Milarepa website, the MTV website,MoveOn.org, andWin Without War.[78] The 19th and 20th Tibetan Freedom Concerts were held in Tokyo and Taipei, the Beastie Boys' first Taiwan appearance. The Beastie Boys also headlined theCoachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.[79]
Their single, "Ch-Check It Out", debuted onThe O.C. in the season 1 episode "The Vegas", which aired April 28, 2004.[80]
To the 5 Boroughs was released worldwide on June 15, 2004.[81] It was the first album the band produced themselves[82] and reached number 1 on theBillboard albums chart,[32] number 2 in the UK[54] and Australia, and number 3 in Germany. The first single from the album, "Ch-Check It Out", reached number 1 in Canada and on theUS Modern Rock Tracks chart.[83]
The album was the cause of some controversy with allegations that it installedspyware when inserted into the CD drive of a computer.[84] The band denied this allegation, defending that there is no copy protection software on the albums sold in the US and UK. While there isMacrovision CDS-200 copy protection software installed on European copies of the album, this is standard practice for all European releases onEMI/Capitol Records released in Europe, and it does not install spyware or any form of permanent software.[85]
The band stated in mid-2006 that they were writing material for their next album and would be producing it themselves.[86]
Speaking to British music weeklyNME (April 26, 2007),[87] Diamond revealed that a new album was to be calledThe Mix-Up. Despite initial confusion regarding whether the album would have lyrics as opposed to being purely instrumental, the Mic-To-Mic blog reported thatCapitol Records had confirmed it would be strictly instrumental and erroneously reported a release date scheduled for July 10, 2007.[88] (The album was eventually released June 26, as originally reported.) On May 1, 2007, this was further cemented by an e-mail sent to those on the band's mailing list – explicitly stating that the album would be all instrumental:
OK, here's our blurb about our new album—it spits hot fire!—hot shit! it's official... it's namedThe Mix-Up. g'wan. all instrumental record. "see I knew they were gonna do that!" that's a quote from you. check the track listing and cover below. you love us. don't you?[89]
The band subsequently confirmed the new album and announced a short tour that focused on festivals as opposed to a traditional tour,[90][91] including the likes ofSónar[92] (Spain),Roskilde (Denmark),Hurricane/Southside (Germany),Bestival[93] (Isle of Wight),Electric Picnic (Ireland) andOpen'er Festival (Poland). The Beastie Boys performed at theUK leg ofLive Earth July 7, 2007 atWembley Stadium, London with "Sabotage", "So What'cha Want", "Intergalactic", and "Sure Shot".[94]
They worked withReverb, a non-profit environmental organization, on their 2007 summer tour,[95] and headlined the Langerado Music Festival in South Florida on Friday, March 7, 2008.[96] The band won a Grammy forThe Mix-Up in the "Best Pop Instrumental Album" category at the50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008.[61]
In February 2009, Yauch revealed their forthcoming new album had taken the band's sound in a "bizarre" new direction, saying "It's a combination of playing and sampling stuff as we're playing, and also sampling pretty obscure records."[97] The tentative title for the record wasTadlock's Glasses, of which Yauch explained the inspiration behind the title:
We had a bus driver years ago who used to drive Elvis' back up singers. His name was Tadlock and Elvis gave him a pair of glasses which he was very proud of. So for some reason that title—Tadlock's Glasses—has just been bouncing around.[97]
On May 25, 2009, it was announced during an interview onLate Night with Jimmy Fallon that the name of their new album would beHot Sauce Committee and was set for release on September 15[98][99] (with the track listing of the album announced through their mailing list on June 23). The album included a collaboration withSantigold who co-wrote and sang with the band on the track "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win".[100][101]
In June, the group appeared atBonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and performed the new single from the album titled "Too Many Rappers" alongside rapperNas who appears on the track. It was the last live performance by the Beastie Boys as a trio.[102] The group would have toured the UK later in the year in support of the new record.[103]
Speaking toDrowned in Sound, the Beastie Boys revealed that Part 2 was done.[104] Mike D also hinted it may be released via unusual means:
Pt. 2 is pretty much done. Basically we were making ...Pt 1, had too many songs, so we recorded some more songs. Which sounds bizarre but it actually worked out, because it made it clear to us which songs were going to be on ...Pt 1. Then we had this whole other album of songs: ...Pt 2. ...Pt 1's going to be your regular CD in the stores and to download, but ...Pt 2 is going to be released in...we're still figuring it out, but a different way. More of a 2009 style. You could get in the shower one day and, boom, all of a sudden you're showered with MP3s. Or we might send people a seven-inch every few weeks, so you have a whole box set.[105]
On July 20, Yauch announced on the band's official YouTube channel[106] and through the fan mailing list, the cancellation of several tour dates and the postponement of the new album[107] due to the discovery of a cancerous tumor in hisparotid gland and a lymph node. The group also had to cancel their co-headlining gig at theOsheaga Festival inMontreal[108] and another headlining spot for the first night of theAll Points West Festival inJersey City, New Jersey.[109]
In late October 2010, the Beastie Boys sent out two emails regarding the status ofHot Sauce Committee Pts. 1 and 2 to their online mailing list. An email dated October 18 read: "Although we regret to inform you thatHot Sauce Committee Part 1 will continue to be delayed indefinitely,Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 will be released on time as originally planned in spring of 2011."[110] One week later, a second email was sent out, reading as follows:
In what can only be described as a bizarre coincidence, following an exhaustive re-sequence marathon, Beastie Boys have verified that their newHot Sauce Committee Part 2 will be composed of the same 16 tracks originally slated for inclusion onHot Sauce Committee Part 1. The record (part 2 that is) will be released as planned in spring 2011 on Capitol. The tracks originally recorded forHot Sauce Committee Part 2 (which now are actually back on Part 1) have now apparently been bumped to make room for the formerHot Sauce Committee Part 1 material. Wait, what?I know it's weird and confusing, but at least we can say unequivocally thatHot Sauce Committee Part 2 is coming out on time, which is more than I can say about Part 1, and really is all that matters in the end." says Adam "MCA" Yauch. "We just kept working and working on various sequences for part 2, and after a year and half of spending days on end in the sequencing room trying out every possible combination, it finally became clear that this was the only way to make it work. Strange but true, the final sequence forHot Sauce Committee Part 2 works best with all its songs replaced by the 16 tracks we originally had lined up in pretty much the same order we had them in forHot Sauce Committee Part 1. So we've come full circle.[111]
The official release dates were April 27, 2011, for Japan; April 29 in the UK and Europe, and May 3, 2011, in the US.[112] The third single for the album "Make Some Noise" was made available for download on April 11, 2011, as well as a limited edition 7-inch vinyl single forRecord Store Day five days later with aPassion Pit remix of the track as a b-side.[113] The track was leaked online on April 6 and subsequently made available via their blog.[114]
On April 22, the Beastie Boys emailed out the cryptic message"This Sat, 10:35 am EST – Just listen, listen, listen to the beat box". A day later, they live streamed their album online via beatbox insideMadison Square Garden.[115][116]
The band was announced as an inductee into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in December 2011. They were inducted byChuck D andLL Cool J on April 14, 2012.[117] Yauch was too sick to attend the ceremony, having been admitted toNewYork–Presbyterian Hospital the same day,[118] therefore the group didn't perform; insteadBlack Thought,Travie fromGym Class Heroes andKid Rock performed a medley of their songs. Diamond and Horovitz accepted and read a letter that Yauch had written.[119]
On May 4, 2012, Yauch died from cancer at the age of 47.[120] Mike D toldRolling Stone that the Beastie Boys had recorded new music in late 2011, but did not say if these recordings would be released. He also said that the Beastie Boys would likely disband due to the death of MCA, though he was open to making new music with Ad-Rock and that "Yauch would genuinely want us to try whatever crazy thing we wanted but never got around to".[121] In June 2014, Mike D confirmed that he and Ad-Rock would not make music under the Beastie Boys name again.[122]
The founding Beastie Boys guitarist John Berry died on May 19, 2016, aged 52, as a result offrontotemporal dementia,[123] following several years of ill health.[124] He was credited with naming the band[125] and played guitar on the first EP.[124][125][126] The first Beastie Boys show took place at Berry's loft.[124][125]
Yauch's will forbids the use of Beastie Boys music in advertisements. In June 2014, the Beastie Boys won a lawsuit againstMonster Energy for using their music in a commercial without permission.[127] They were awarded $1.7 million in damages and $668,000 for legal fees.[128][129]
In October 2018, Mike D and Ad-Rock released a memoir,Beastie Boys Book, recounting events throughout the group's history.[130][131] The book was adapted into a documentary in April 2020,Beastie Boys Story, directed bySpike Jonze and premiered onApple TV+.[132] The book and documentary were also complemented by the compilation albumBeastie Boys Music, released in October 2020.[133]
In 1994, Yauch and activist Erin Potts[134] organized theTibetan Freedom Concert in order to raise awareness ofhumans rights abuses by theChinese government on theTibetan people. Yauch became aware of this after hiking inNepal and speaking with Tibetan refugees.[135][136] The events became annual, and shortly after went international with acts such asLive,Mike Mills andMichael Stipe ofR.E.M.,Rage Against the Machine,the Smashing Pumpkins, andU2.[137]
Originally ahardcore punk band,[138][139] the Beastie Boys had largely abandoned the genre in favor ofhip hop andrap rock[140][141][142][143] by the time work began on their debut studio albumLicensed to Ill. The group mixed elements ofhip hop,punk,funk,electro,jazz andLatin music into their music.[140] They have also been described asalternative hip hop[144][145][146] andpunk rap.[147]
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 largeVolkswagen 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.[148][149] A controversial concert inColumbus, Georgia, in 1987 led to the passage of a lewdness ordinance in that city.[150]
The Beastie Boys are influential in the hip hop and rock music scenes, with artists such asEminem,[151]Rage Against the Machine,[152]Hed PE,[153]Limp Bizkit,[154]Sublime,[155] andBlur[156] citing them as an influence. In the 2022 bookWhat's That Sound?: An Introduction to Rock Music and Its History, music journalists Andrew Flory and John Covach surmised "perhaps the Beastie Boys will prove to be theElvises of rap—the inevitable white catalysts necessary for explodingblack music innovations intoAnglo ears."[157]
The Beastie Boys have had four albums reach the top of theBillboard album charts (Licensed to Ill,Ill Communication,Hello Nasty andTo the 5 Boroughs) since 1986.[158] In the November 2004 issue,Rolling Stone named "Sabotage" the 475th song on their500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.[159]In their April 2005 issue,Rolling Stone ranked them number 77 on their list of the100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[160]VH1 ranked them number 89 on their list of their 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[161] On September 27, 2007, it was announced that the Beastie Boys were one of the nine nominees for the 2008Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductions.[162] In December 2011, they were announced to be official 2012 inductees.[163]
The Beastie Boys have many high-profile longtime fans, includingUltimate Fighting Championship (UFC) presidentDana White, who has a bass guitar signed by all three members and a copy ofBeastie Boys Book in his office.[164] Speaking on the death ofAdam Yauch, White said, "I seriously haven't been impacted by a death in a long time like I was with the Beastie Boys".[165] ActorSeth 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'".[166]Ben Stiller was seen in the crowd for the DVD releaseAwesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! and featured Horovitz in his movieWhile We're Young, where he said, "I'm a huge Beastie Boys fan, so doing that, for me, was beyond anything".[167]Eminem was highly influenced by the Beastie Boys and cited them alongsideLL Cool J as being the reason he got into rap. During an interview withMTV 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."[168] His album cover forKamikaze paid homage toLicensed to Ill[169] and he also paid homage in his "Berzerk" video.[170] In an interview withRolling Stone,Beavis and Butt-Head creatorMike Judge acknowledged he was a fan of the band, citing his favorite song as "Fight for Your Right",[171] as the Beastie Boys appeared onBeavis and Butt-Head on numerous occasions.[172]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 beforeLicensed to Ill came out, opening for Run DMC atJoe Louis Arena. My jaw dropped to the floor!"[173] In 2020,Spin ranked the Beastie Boys as the 12th-most influential artist of the previous 35 years.[174]
In 2022, theNew York City Council voted to rename the intersection of Ludlow and Rivington streets inManhattan's Lower East Side—the location of thePaul's Boutique album cover—"Beastie Boys Square".[175] The vote was the result of a grassroots campaign started in 2013 by historian LeRoy McCarthy.[176] The renaming was voted down when first proposed in 2014, but it passed on July 14, 2022.[177] The square was renamed on September 9, 2023, coinciding with the 50th anniversary ofhip hop.[178]
In 2003, the Beastie Boys were involved in the landmarksampling decisionNewton v. Diamond. In that case, a federal judge ruled that the band was not liable for samplingJames Newton's "Choir" in their track "Pass the Mic". The sample used is the six-second flute stab. In short, the Beastie Boys cleared the sample but obtained only the rights to use the sound recording and not the composition rights to the song "Choir". In the decision, the judge found that:
when viewed in relation to Newton's composition as a whole, the portion is neither quantitatively nor qualitatively significant... Because Beastie Boys' use of the sound recording was authorized, the sole basis of Newton's infringement action is his remaining copyright interest in the 'Choir' composition. We hold today that Beastie Boys' use of a brief segment of that composition, consisting of three notes separated by a half-step over a background C note, is not sufficient to sustain a claim for copyright infringement.[50]
Members
Touring musicians
Studio albums
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Check Your Head | Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group | Nominated |
| 1995 | "Sabotage" | Best Hard Rock Performance | Nominated |
| 1999 | "Intergalactic" | Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group | Won |
| Hello Nasty | Best Alternative Music Album | Won | |
| 2001 | "Alive" | Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group | Nominated |
| 2005 | "Ch-Check It Out" | Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group | Nominated |
| To The 5 Boroughs | Best Rap Album | Nominated | |
| 2008 | "Off the Grid" | Best Pop Instrumental Performance | Nominated |
| The Mix-Up | Best Contemporary Instrumental Album | Won | |
| 2010 | "Too Many Rappers"(featuringNas) | Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group | Nominated |
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | "Sabotage" | Video of the Year | Nominated |
| Best Group Video | Nominated | ||
| Breakthrough Video | Nominated | ||
| Best Direction(Director:Spike Jonze) | Nominated | ||
| Viewer's Choice | Nominated | ||
| 1998 | Beastie Boys | Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award | Won |
| 1999 | "Intergalactic" | Best Hip-Hop Video | Won |
| 2009 | "Sabotage" | Best Video (That Should Have Won a Moonman) | Won |
| 2011 | "Make Some Noise" | Video of the Year | Nominated |
| Best Direction(Director:Adam Yauch) | Won |
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Beastie Boys | Best Group | Nominated |
| 1998 | "Intergalactic" | Best Video | Nominated |
| Hello Nasty | Best Album | Nominated | |
| Beastie Boys | Best Group | Nominated | |
| Best Hip-Hop | Won | ||
| 1999 | Beastie Boys | Best Hip-Hop | Nominated |
| 2004 | Beastie Boys | Best Group | Nominated |
| Best Hip-Hop | Nominated | ||
| 2011 | "Make Some Noise" | Best Video | Nominated |
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | "Ch-Check It Out" | Best Hip-Hop Video | Won |
| 2009 | Beastie Boys | MTV Street Icon Award | Won |
As a member of Beastie Boys, Yauch (who recorded under the name MCA) helped pioneer rap-rock with (...) classic tracks like '(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)' and 'No Sleep Till Brooklyn', ...
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata
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