Kerry King Regrets Taking Flat Fee for Beastie Boys Collaboration
Kerry King notably plays guitar on the Beastie Boys’ hit “No Sleep till Brooklyn” off of their 1986 debut studio album Licensed to Ill. In the United States alone, that album has sold over 10 million copies. However, the Slayer guitarist has one major regret appearing on that record.
King told Border City Rock Talk that he was paid a flat fee for playing guitar on “No Sleep till Brooklyn.” That flat fee was “a couple hundred bucks,” according to King. Had he opted to take his payment via percentage points on the overall net profits of the sale of Licensed to Ill, he likely would have made significantly more money.
“In hindsight, I wish I didn’t get paid,” said King. “I wish I took a quarter point or something, ’cause now I would be a rich man.”
A similar situation happened with Eddie Van Halen, who notably played the guitar solo on “Beat It” off of Michael Jackson’s landmark album Thriller. EVH told CNN in 2012 that he played that blistering solo for free as a favor to producer Quincy Jones. Amazingly, he improvised that solo and recorded it in about half an hour.
“I don’t even think I’m credited on the record,” said Van Halen. “It just says, ‘Guitar solo: Question Mark’ or ‘Guitar solo: Frankenstein’ (the name of his guitar).”
As much as King stood to receive on Licensed to Ill, Van Halen could have made an obscene amount of money for half an hour of work if he received percentage points on Thriller. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Thriller has sold over 34 million copies in the United States alone.
Slayer Reuniting for Three Festival Shows
As reported in February, Slayer is reuniting for the first time in five years and performing at three festivals.
Slayer’s Riot Fest set in Chicago will take place on September 22. Five days later, they’ll take to the stage at Louder Than Life in Louisville on September 27. Then, on October 10, Slayer will take to the stage at Aftershock in Sacramento, Calif.
In a statement, Tom Araya said, “Nothing compares to the 90 minutes when we’re on stage playing live, sharing that intense energy with our fans, and to be honest, we have missed that.”
Kerry King added, “Have I missed playing live? Absolutely. Slayer means a lot to our fans; they mean a lot to us. It will be five years since we have seen them.”
