Michael Diamond (Mike D) was born on November 20th of 1965 in New York City.

Mike D founded the band The Young Aborigines in 1979 (yes he was about 14 years old at the time.) In 1981 Adam Yauch (MCA) joined the band and they changed their name to the Beastie Boys (on the suggestion of their guitar player at the time named John Berry.) In 1983 Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock) joined the group. These three are still together today, 25 years later.

They began to shift from punk rock to hip hop in ’83. In 1986 they released their debut album Licensed to Ill which was a huge hit. It hit #1 on the US album charts and has sold over 9 million copies in the US to date. It includes the top 10 single (#7) “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)”

The Beastie Boys have have released 7 studio albums to date. Their most recent being 2007′s The Mix-Up which is the band’s first instrumental album.

“Off The Grid” Music Video
(From The Mix Up)