BEASTIE BOYS

Who are Beastie Boys?

Beastie Boys were an American hip hop group from New York City, formed in 1978 and composed of Michael ‘Mike D’ Diamond (born November 20, 1965), Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch (born August 5, 1964) and Adam ‘Ad-Rock’ Horovitz (born October 31, 1966). 

Beastie Boys were formed from the ashes of experimental hardcore outfit Young Aborigines, and their first release was an eight-track EP entitled Polly Wog Stew in 1982. Beastie Boys supported the likes of Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys and Misfits, and their name was, according to Mike D, an acronym of Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Inner Excellence. 

Beastie Boys gained a wider audience after supporting Madonna with an inflatable penis on her 1985 US tour, and exploded into success and hotel-trashing notoriety when their debut album Licensed to Ill became the first rap album to top the US Billboard Chart in 1986. Soon, youngsters worldwide were empowered to steal the VW symbols off their dad’s car and generally be obnoxious. 

The group returned in 1989 with the highly influential album Paul’s Boutique, reigniting their career and moving on from their rowdier beginnings, and created a whole lifestyle with magazine and label Grand Royale, clothing line X-Large as well as creating the Tibetan Freedom Concert. 

Beastie Boys scored a UK Number 1 album in 1998 with Hello Nasty, which featured their biggest song Intergalactic. Beastie Boys sadly stopped when MCA passed away in 2012 from parotid cancer, with Mike D confirming they’d disbanded in 2014.