Beastie Boys Book
“You already know that Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz are great storytellers—it’s what makes their music great…So you can only imagine how much more fun it is to hear them—and a star-studded cast of their friends—recount their stories as an audiobook…The Beastie Boys have made a brilliant thirteen-hour radio play…You haven’t truly listened to an audiobook until you’ve heard a rap legend holler, ‘All rights reseeeerrved.”
Rolling Stone (audio review)
A #1 New York Times bestseller
A #1 Amazon.com bestseller in Biographies of Artists, Authors & Musicians
New York Times audio bestseller
The Rolling Stone magazine pick for Best Audiobook of the Year
A Booklist Editors’ Choice of 2018's Top Audiobooks
A 2019 Audie Award Finalist for Audiobook of the Year
The inspiration for the Emmy-nominated Apple TV+ “live documentary” Beastie Boys Story, directed by Spike Jonze
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Rolling Stone • The Guardian • Paste
Formed as a New York City hardcore band in 1981, Beastie Boys struck an unlikely path to global hip hop superstardom. Here is their story, told for the first time in the words of the band. Adam “ADROCK” Horovitz and Michael “Mike D” Diamond offer revealing and very funny accounts of their transition from teenage punks to budding rappers; their early collaboration with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin; the debut album that became the first hip hop record ever to hit #1, Licensed to Ill—and the album’s messy fallout as the band broke with Def Jam; their move to Los Angeles and rebirth with the genre-defying masterpiece Paul’s Boutique; their evolution as musicians and social activists over the course of the classic albums Check Your Head, Ill Communication, and Hello Nasty and the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits conceived by the late Adam “MCA” Yauch; and more. For more than thirty years, this band has had an inescapable and indelible influence on popular culture.
With a style as distinctive and eclectic as a Beastie Boys album, Beastie Boys Book upends the typical music memoir, featuring a collection of voices reminiscent of your favorite mixtape.
Photo Credit © 1987 Lynn Goldsmith
Audiobook Cast Includes:
Steve Buscemi / Ada Calhoun / Bobby Cannavale / Exene Cervenka
Roy Choi / Jarvis Cocker / Elvis Costello / Chuck D / Nadia Dajani
Michael Diamond / Snoop Dogg / Will Ferrell / Crosby Fitzgerald
Randy Gardner / Kim Gordon / Josh Hamilton / Adam Horovitz
LL Cool J / Spike Jonze / Pat Kiernan / Talib Kweli / Dave Macklovitch
Rachel Maddow / Tim Meadows / Bette Midler/ Mix Master Mike
Nas / Yoshimi O / Rosie Perez / Amy Poehler / Kelly Reichardt
John C. Reilly / Ian Rogers / Maya Rudolph / Rev Run
Luc Sante / Kate Schellenbach / MC Serch / Chloe Sevigny
Jon Stewart / Ben Stiller / Wanda Sykes / Jeff Tweedy / Philippe Zdar
Praise