The two remaining members Ad-Rock and Mike-D admit they had let down their female friends when they decided to kick out drummer Kate Schellenbach from their group.
- April 25, 2020
AceShowbiz - Beastie Boys members Ad-Rock and Mike D regret letting down women by ditching drummer Kate Schellenbach when they switched from punk music to hip-hop.
The two, who haven't performed or recorded together since the death of third member Adam 'MCA' Yauch in 2012, started out as a punk four-piece before switching to rap when Kate left the band in 1984, signing to Def Jam and going on to huge success.
Ad-Rock, real name Adam Horovitz, tells Britain's The Sunday Times newspaper that he regrets falling out with Kate and letting down women by living up to misogynist caricatures of behaviour in the music industry.
"We started out as a hardcore punk band, with Kate Schellenbach as our drummer," he says. "We ended up a cartoon rap version of a 1980s metal band and we kicked Kate out. How wrong was that? When the Beastie Boys began, the majority of our friends were girls. It's embarrassing to think we let them down."
He also has regrets over the band's biggest mainstream hit – "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)" - as it was originally supposed to be a parody of frat boy attitudes.
"It was making fun of party bros (brothers) and frat boys," the 53 year old says. "We'd never actually met any, but we thought they were hilarious to make fun of. Then it became a hit, and gradually that's what we started to become."
He says the song's success was one reason the group left Def Jam - as it fell out with label boss Russell Simmons over its musical direction.
"When we started becoming a self-caricature, Russell wouldn't pay us unless we carried on doing it," he adds. "So we quit."
A new documentary on the group's career, "Beastie Boys Story", is available on Apple TV+.
