Slayer guitarist Kerry King has shared his biggest regret when it comes to having made a cameo on the Beastie Boys‘ hit single and video for “No Sleep Till Brooklyn.” The song appeared on the Beasties’ breakout Licensed to Ill album, with the video becoming a popular clip on MTV with King even making a guest turn there to play his solo.
King recalled his famous cameo during a recent appearance on Border City Rock Talk (as seen at the bottom of this post) and revealed he has one significant regret about it.
“The simplicity of it is what’s funny about it. We [Slayer] 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. And [producer] 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.’ I certainly wasn’t well to do back then. So, that’s what I did. I went in there and I did it.”
King adds, “In hindsight, I wish I didn’t get paid. I wish I took a quarter point or something, ’cause now I would be a rich man. [Laughs]” When King speaks of “points,” he’s referring to a percentage of the net profits derived from the composition and the sound recording. So even a quarter point on a song that became popular would amount to way more than the “couple hundred bucks” payout he received at the time.
Kerry King Did Get a “Bump” From Beastie Boys Video
While King earned a small amount that kept him financially afloat at the time for his guest solo and video appearance, he did have one other significant impact on how the song was presented.
Back in 2014, King revealed on the Scion AV All Purpose Show (as premiered at Loudwire) that he stepped up to change the direction of the “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” video.
“I went in and did the video and I thought that was a way to get Slayer’s foot step in the door of videos,” recalled King. “I’m in the Beastie Boys video and that’s gonna be huge.’”
But when he arrived for the shoot, he learned from the director that a gorilla was going to knock him offstage in the comedic clip. “That ain’t gonna happen, that just ain’t going to happen,” King responded. “So we did it the way I suggested and the gorilla is up there and I swack him with my nails and take off from there.”
Beastie Boys, “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”
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Kerry King’s OTHER Guest Appearance
Slayer were a little more established when King was asked again for another guest cameo. This time it was for the Sum 41 song “What We’re All About” that appeared as part of 2002’s Spider-Man soundtrack.
But waiving a few dollars wasn’t enough to convince him this time. In fact, he turned down the request 10 times before eventually being pitched an argument that changed his mind.
King revealed some record label intervention and some reasoning finally put him on the path. He tells Metal Hammer (as transcribed by Guitar World), “A friend of mine at the label came to me at an angle that I just couldn’t argue with,” the guitarist recalls. “He was like, ‘Well, you know you played on the Beastie Boys record [1987’s “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”].’ Fuck! Haha, he’s got a point! That was my epiphany. That was before we put ourselves back on the map – those dudes were fun and they were popping.”
Given the huge popularity of the initial Tobey Maguire-led Spider-Man film and soundtrack, it did put King in a spotlight that the guitarist or his band weren’t always given.
READ MORE: Kerry King Explains Why He’s Played Bass on Slayer Albums
Reflecting on those guest spots, King added, “So, yeah, I played on the Beastie Boys record and I played on the Sum 41 record. I mean, those weren’t choices for me, those were just career choices I made. Some people may agree with them and some people may not.”
Kerry King Guests on Border City Rock Talk
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