“Now I would be a rich man”: Kerry King opens up on payment for Beastie Boys solo
It is undoubtedly difficult to live your life in the musical world without amassing a specific volume of mistakes and regrets. Particularly within the realm of rock music, most artists are simply making it up as they go along. As a result, seemingly inconsequential actions like lending a short guitar solo to your friends across the hall can become a pretty sore subject years down the line, at least in the case of Slayer guitarist Kerry King.
Back in 1986, King and Slayer were in the midst of recording their defining record Reign In Blood. This record marked a particularly special point in the history of the thrash metal icons, as it was the first album to be recorded following their deal with Def Jam Records and Rick Rubin. Of course, Def Jam focused predominantly on hip-hop, which led Slayer to rub shoulders with some unlikely figures.
For instance, just across the corridor from Slayer, Beastie Boys were recording their debut album, Licensed To Ill. Given that Rubin was producing both projects, there was some inevitable overlap between the two very disparate bands.
When Beastie Boys were in the process of laying down their seminal hit ‘No Sleep till Brooklyn’, Rubin thought a guitar solo would elevate the track, and so Kerry King was drafted in as a helping hand.
King agreed to the arrangement, but during a recent interview with Border City Rock Talk, the guitarist reflected upon his regret at taking a flat fee for the solo. “The simplicity of it is what’s funny about it,” he said, “We were doing what became the Reign In Blood album and the Beastie Boys were doing Licensed To Ill in the same studio – like down the hall from each other.”
Continuing, the Slayer guitarist recalled, “And Rick Rubin was doing both projects. So they needed a lead on that particular song, ‘No Sleep till Brooklyn’. So I thought about it, and I went, ‘Yeah, why not? I can use a couple hundred bucks.’” Session musicians taking a flat fee rather than a percentage of royalties is a tale as old as rock music itself, but it never seems to end harmoniously.
“I certainly wasn’t well to do back then,” King shared, “So, that’s what I did. I went in there and I did it. And in hindsight, I wish I didn’t get paid. I wish I took a quarter point or something, because now I would be a rich man!”
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