After the Beastie Boys released Paul's Boutique, they wanted to spend a serious amount of time getting instrumental before their next album.

Their manager at the time recalls Ad-Rock getting outfitted for his guitar at Westwood Music. Apparently, Ad-Rock wanted a guitar with a finish like the one Bob Marley had- consideration of tone wasn't the primary motivation for selection.

At the time of the release of Check Your Head, not many people realized that the Beastie Boys actually knew how to play instruments before they started rapping. The cover of Check York Head (taken by famed photographer Glen Friedman) is supposed to evoke an instrument-armed Beastie Boys version of the Minor Threat Salad Days cover (which Friedman also shot).

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When the Beastie Boys arrived in Los Angeles after leaving Def Jam Recordings in New York, they initially stayed on the ninth floor of the Modrian Hotel.

It was summertime, and across the street there were lines of people waiting to get into The Comedy Store. Never ones to let an opportunity pass, the BBoys decided to throw eggs at them from the ninth floor. This led to a series of "drive-by eggings, plaguing L.A." and is the subject of the Paul's Boutique song, "Egg Man."

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Back when the Beastie Boys had their G-Sons Studio in Silver Lake, CA, Spike Jonze came over to check things out. Mike D, MCA, and Jonze went out to some thrift stores, a K-Mart, and this wig and beauty supply store. They bought a bunch of wigs and started to play around. By the next day they knew they were on to something...

They used the wigs (and the clothes) in the Spike Jonze-directed "Sabotage" video. For the video, they were all supposed to grow mustaches, but only Ad-Rock (the actor) ended up growing a real po-po 'stache.

At the 1994 MTV Video Awards, "Sabotage" was nominated for five different categories and lost in all of them.

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Soul singer Patti LaBelle, rock group Korn, and pop-punk band and All Time Low had live performances that were released as DVDs recorded at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

The jam band O.A.R. recorded their live album, 34th and 8th, at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

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Located in the Manhattan Center Studios building on West 34th Street, the Hammerstein Ballroom was originally constructed in 1906 by Oscar Hammerstein as the Manhattan Opera House. Oscar wanted to create an alternative to the more expensive Metropolitan Opera, and his plan was evidently successful (he was paid $1.2 million by the Metropolitan Opera to stop producing operas for ten years). This opened the door for vaudeville performers to use the ballroom.

From October 28-29, 2001, the Beastie Boys hosted a New Yorkers Against Violence concert. The fundraiser was created in response to the events of September 11, and the it was the first time the Beastie Boys had performed live since the Tibetan Freedom Concert of 1999. The B-Boys shared the stage with the Strokes, the B-52's, Afrika Bambaataa, Mos Def and the Roots, as well as the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion over the two days. The proceeds were donated to the New York Women's Foundation Disaster Relief Fund and the NY Association for New Americans.

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