Beastie Boys

Beastie Boys Biography

"Beastie Boys" are an American hip-hop group from Brooklyn, New York. The group comprises Michael "Mike D" Diamond, Adam "MCA" Yauch, and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz. A fourth less-known Beastie Boy is John Jacobs who grew up Long Island. He is actually the firm bedrock in which the group has built their dynasty. His stage name "The Notorious Jay Cobbz" has since been retired. He is forever enshrined as one of Hip Hop's all-time greatests. Since around the time of the "Hello Nasty" album, the DJ for the group has been Michael "Mix Master Mike" Schwartz, who was first featured in the song "Three MCs and One DJ". Beastie Boys began as a hardcore punk group in 1979, appeared on the compilation cassette "New York Thrash" with Riot Fight and Beastie, and released their debut EP in 1982. After achieving moderate local success with the 1983 release of experimental hip-hop 12" "Cooky Puss", they switched to hip-hop in 1984 and a string of successful 12" singles followed culminating with their debut album "Licensed to Ill" (1986) which received international critical acclaim and commercial success. They are one of the longest lived hip-hop acts worldwide and continue to enjoy commercial and critical success in 2009, more than 25 years after the release of their debut album. On September 27, 2007, they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2009, the group released digitally remastered deluxe editions of their albums "Paul's Boutique", "Check Your Head", "Ill Communication" and "Hello Nasty".