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1999


January

As Paul's Boutique nears its ten year anniversary, sales of the album pick up again and the RIAA award the album 2X mulitplatinum (2,000,000 copies sold) status on January 27th. The next night (January 28th) the Beastie Boys join forces with Rage Against the Machine to do a benefit show in East Rutherford NJ for Jamal Mumia's defence costs. Over $375,000 is raised by the benefit.

February

The band had not visited orient since the Quasar tour, so they fly to Japan and play a series of shows in support of Hello Nasty. The first of these takes place in Nagoya on February 2nd, 1999 and the final show seven days later occurs at Castle Hall in Osaka on February 9th. From Japan they travel to Perth, Australia to begin another mini-tour.

May

On the 11th of May, the Remote Control/ Three MCs and One DJ single is released in the United Kingdom.

June

A few days prior to the 4th Tibetan Freedom Concert, Adam Yauch calls in to do a radio broadcast telephone interview with Chicago's Mancow in the Morning. For reasons that were not clear to fans listening in, Mancow hangs up on Yauch.

On June 13th, 1999 the Beastie Boys perform at the 4th Annual Tibetan Freedom Concert. This time around it is a much smaller production. Fewer groups (Outkast, Run DMC, the Roots, and so on)perform and fewer fans attend, but regardless the event is deemed a success. Cable televison network HBO is on hand to record the performances which will later be broadcast as part of the station's Reverb special.

June 30 1999 While out in Los Angeles, CA Mike D calls in to New York radio station KROCK to promote the release of three free downloads on Launch.com. For each visit to the Launch.com website and subsequent download of remixed cuts like “Negotiation Limerick File,” a small donation was made to help Kosovo refugees.

July

The Beastie Boys, Jam Master Jay, and Run D.M.C. gather at Adam Horovitz’s home to hang out and make music as they used to do, back in the Chung King Studio days. Material produced from this session goes to Run D.M.C. to perhaps be used on their forthcoming “Crown Royal” album. (Information source: Ronin Ro’s amazing book Raising Hell: The Reign, Ruin and Redemption of Run-D.M.C. and Jam Master Jay.)

August

A few weeks later Run calls the Beastie Boys and asks them to come over to Jam Master Jay’s studio and properly record and finalize the stuff that would be included on “Crown Royal.” Only Adam Horovitz is available, so he proceeds to bring along some material he has been working on. Out of these beats, samples, and instrumentals, Run D.M.C later selected one of the instrumentals to be used by Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst who rapped on the song “T’em Girls.” (Information source: Ronin Ro’s amazing book Raising Hell: The Reign, Ruin and Redemption of Run-D.M.C. and Jam Master Jay.)

September

After staying off the radar for a month or so, words spreads that the Beastie Boys will be part of a Saturday Night Live 25th Anniversary televsion special. The rumors turn out to be true. On September 25th, 1999 the band performs the song "Radio Radio" at Rockefeller Center with Elvis Costello.

October

At a gathering of 350 United States high school students in Washington D.C., Adam Yauch addresses the topic of violence in music and in the movies. The Voices Against Violence Congressional Forum met on October 20th, 1999 and at it MTV quoted Yauch as having said "Here you're making a movie, and it looks exciting to show a bunch of people getting shot,and it might be fun to go and see that movie. But I think that it does have a long-term affect on society, especially for really young people that have not solidified their ideals or their understandings of what that violence really means or how it can really affect us."

November

Prior to the release of the Beastie Boys "Sounds of Science" Anthology, the band attempts to get clearance for the AC/DC "Back In Black" sample used in the 1985 song "Rock Hard." AC/DC band members decide to deny the Beastie Boys authorized use of the sample, which keeps "Rock Hard" off the collection.

Beginning on November 1st 1999, Beastie Boys fans could pick what they wanted the tracklisting of their customized The Sounds of Science Anthology to be. One-hundred-fifty songs were available to pick from, including tracks the Beastie Boys had recorded with Hurricane (e.g. "Four Fly Guys"). As a special bonus for making your custom CDs fans were given a free download of the new single "Alive". The project ended December 31st and the first wave of do-it-yourself discs were delivered the day the Beastie's 2CD Anthology The Sounds of Science was released on November 23rd.

December

On the 6th, the Alive Single is released in the United Kingdom.

On December 23rd, one month after its release, the Beastie Boys Anthology: Sounds of Science is certified gold (500,000 copies sold).

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