According to Gibson.com, the sales of albums and songs by the BEASTIE BOYS have surged in the wake of Adam “MCA” Yauch’s death from cancer last week.
The group’s 1986 iconic debut album “Licensed to Ill” has re-entered the top 20 on the Billboard 200 chart. It’s notable for becoming the first rap album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, hitting that spot back in March 1987 and remaining there for seven straight weeks. Other albums include 1989’s “Paul’s Boutique” (#56), 1992’s “Check Your Head” (#124), 1994’s “Ill Communication” (#109) and last year’s “Hot Sauce Committee Part Two” (#107), as well as their compilation albums “The Sounds of Silence” (#141) and “Solid Gold Hits” (#51), released in 1999 and 2005 respectively. “Hello Nasty” (1998), “To the 5 Boroughs” (2004) and “The Mix-Up” (2007) are the only BEASTIE BOYS studio albums so far not re-entering the charts.
Reports are also saying that 151,000 downloads of the BEASTIE BOYS songs were sold this past week, up from 14,000 the week before. The top seller was the single, “Brass Monkey“, which hit #48 on the Billboard Hot 100 back in April 1987.
BEASTIE BOYS live:
