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Beastie Boys biography

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. In the November 2004 issue, Rolling Stone Magazine named "Sabotage" the 475th song on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. In their April 2005 Rolling Stone Magazine ranked them #77 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. 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.

A controversial concert in Columbus, Georgia in 1987 led to the passage of a lewdness ordinance in that city.

Sal Governale, a comedian on the staff of the Howard Stern Show, indicated on air on July 25, 2007, that he was the president of the Beastie Boys fan club in the 1980s on the Prodigy computer network.

Sampling lawsuit

In 2003, Beastie Boys were involved in the landmark sampling decision, Newton v. Diamond. In that case, a federal judge ruled that the band was not liable for sampling James Newton's "Choir" in their track, "Pass the Mic." The sample used is the six-second flute stab. In short, the Beasties cleared the sample but only obtained 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 sampled 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."

Members

Regular members (as of 2005)

• Michael Diamond, a.k.a. Mike D - vocals, drums
• Adam Yauch, a.k.a. MCA - vocals, bass guitar
• Adam Horovitz, a.k.a. Ad-Rock - vocals, guitar
• Michael Schwartz, a.k.a. Mix Master Mike - turntables, samples

Other contributing members

• Wendell Fite, aka DJ Hurricane (DJ)
• Lou Fox, aka DJ Underwears 1979-1981
• Mario Caldato Junior, aka Mario C (producer/engineer)
• Mark Ramos-Nishita, aka Money Mark (keyboards, vocals, carpentry)
• Eric Bobo (percussion)
• John King and Mike Simpson (DJ EZ-Mike) a.k.a. The Dust Brothers (producers)
• Pat Keane a.k.a BIG red
• Chris Bradds, guitar
• Rick Rubin (producer and original DJ)
• Amery Smith, a.k.a. AWOL (drums)
• Alfredo Ortiz (percussion)
• Walter Miranda (keyboards 1999)
• Doctor Dré (DJ in early years) (not to be confused with the Los Angeles rapper and producer Dr. Dre)
• Marcell Hall, a.k.a. Biz Markie, (vocals, 1992-1999)
• Kerry King from Slayer (guitar) solo in No Sleep Till Brooklyn and Fight For Your Right (To Party)

Biography from , the free encyclopedia.
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