Beastie Boys is a hip hop musical group from New York City, consisting of Michael "Mike D" Diamond, Adam "MCA" Yauch and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz. They started out as a punk rock group in 1979 and have, since their switch to hip hop and release of their debut album Licensed To Ill (1986), enjoyed international critical acclaim and commercial success. They are well-known for their eclecticism, jocular and flippant attitude toward interviews and interviewers, obscure cultural references and kitschy lyrics, and performing in outlandish matching suits. They are one of the longest living hip hop acts and continue to enjoy commercial and critical success in 2007, more than 20 years after the release of their debut album. The three main members of the Beastie Boys are of Jewish heritage. Beastie Boys came together in 1979 as a punk band called The Young Aborigines. In 1981 Adam Yauch (MCA) joined the group and from the suggestion of their guitarist John Berry, they changed the name to Beastie...This information was automatically generated from Freebase article The Beastie Boys. You should replace/update it...