Beastie Boys Give Fans Music Therapy

Adam Yauch, Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz played a benefit on New York's West Side last night for the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, a Bronx-based agency dedicated to the idea that "music has unique powers to heal, rehabilitate, and inspire."

"I had wanted to do this one charity for my cousin who had gotten shot in the leg 15 times," said Yauch before the show. "But these guys wouldn't do it."

"It's weird that he got shot only in the leg that excessively," said Horovitz. "That's a lot of shots."

On a serious note, Diamond added: "It just seemed like amazing work that [the IMNF is] doing out there in the Bronx. And it's also work that doesn't get much attention and it's helping people in need."

The show itself was a mix of classic Beasties hip-hop, punk and instrumental songs (highlights: "3 MC's and One DJ," "Rhymin' and Stealin'," and "B for My Name"). This weekend the trio plays Florida's Langerado Festival and their first-ever gig in Mexico City; as reported on RollingStone.com, they're also back in the studio.

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Song Stories

“Baby Got Back”

Sir Mix-a-Lot | 1992

While watching a Budweiser commercial during the Super Bowl, Sir Mix-a-Lot thought the skinny female models in the ad didn’t represent reality. So he wrote this ode to ample bottoms, featuring its famous to-the-point lyric: “I like big butts and I cannot lie.” MTV banished the video, featuring shaking booties and sexually suggestive fruit, to 9 p.m. or later. “I thought my career was over,” he told Rolling Stone. “Then I called Rick Rubin, and I told him the video was banned, and he was like, 'Great!' We sold another 2 million records.”

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