The Beastie Boys burst onto the scene with 1984's Licensed to Ill. Unlike the rappers before them, the group comprised three Jewish teens from middle-class homes in Brooklyn.
As the first successful non-African American rappers, the Beastie Boys altered the topography of modern music. They pioneered the way for artists like Eminem, and also served as a foundation for today's underground, experimental hip-hop.
Though Licensed to Ill, with its mega-single Fight For Your Right, garnered them fame, Paul's Boutique cemented their status as elite artists in the genre.
And over the next 15 years, the hits kept coming. Tracks like Sabotage, Sure Shot, Intergalactic and Ch-check It Out are wildly different yet distinctly Beasties at the same time.
Perhaps that is why the Grammy-winning artists are the number four selling hip-hop act of all time.
Early in their career, the Beasties developed a reputation as unruly drunks, often out of control while on tour. They routinely showed up intoxicated to shows and damaged equipment at the end of each performance.
But as they aged, they left the hooliganism behind -- trading it in for political activism. In recent years, they've given numerous interviews denouncing US foreign policy, even recording an anti-war track, In A World Gone Mad.
This increased wisdom, however, has not diminished their energy and charisma on-stage. The Beasties are still one of the most sought after tickets in the United States.
Must have album: Paul's Boutique
Greatest songs: Fight For Your Right, Sabotage, Intergalactic
Image: The Beastie Boys perform in Barcelona, Spain, in June. Photograph: Cesar Rangel/AFP/Getty Images
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