Beastie Boys
The Beastie Boys were an American hip-hop and punk group formed in New York City in 1981. Their main-line up consisted of Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums).
The Beastie Boys were previously members of the hardcore punk band the Young Aborigines, with Diamond on drums, Jeremy Shatan on bass guitar, and John Berry on guitar. Kate Schellenbach later joined on drums. When Shatan left in mid-1981, Yauch replaced him on bass and the band was renamed the Beastie Boys. Berry left shortly thereafter and was replaced by Horovitz, the guitarist of The Young and the Useless. After achieving local success with the 1983 comedy hip-hop single "Cooky Puss", the Beastie Boys made a full transition to hip-hop and Schellenbach subsequently left, with the group's final lineup consisting of Diamond, Horovitz and Yauch.
The Beastie Boys toured with Madonna in 1985, after she discovered them while frequenting Danceteria. In 1986, they released their debut album, Licensed to Ill, the first rap album to top the Billboard 200 chart and was heavily influenced by their beginnings in rock. Their second album, Paul's Boutique (1989), was made with the Dust Brothers and consisted almost entirely of samples. It was a commercial failure but received critical and cult 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), an entirely instrumental album, and Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (2011), their final album.
Their last live performance was at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music Festival, before they stopped due to Yauch's diagnosis of parotid cancer. In 2012, the Beastie Boys became the third rap group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Later that year, Yauch died and the Beastie Boys disbanded. Retrospective works include the Beastie Boys Book, a documentary and a compilation album.
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