Roots drummer ?uestlove is a go-to guy for all your music needs. If he’s not producing recordings by Common or D’Angelo, or playing drums with John Mayer or Fiona Apple, he’s appearing nightly with the Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. So it was no surprise when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame approached ?uestlove to help with its induction ceremony back in April.
Beastie Boys had chosen not to perform without the ailing Adam Yauch, so the Hall of Fame asked ?uestlove to produce a demo of a Beastie Boys medley. The purpose of the demo was to give the ceremony’s producers and prospective performers an idea of what to expect. This is what he came up with on his lunch break.
Check out the medley above. It ended up being performed by Kid Rock, Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes, and the Roots themselves.
You can read about the drummer’s process here to find out how he picked “No Sleep Til Brooklyn,” “Sabotage,” “Shake Your Rump” and others to represent the different eras of the Beastie Boys’ career.
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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction recap
?uestlove's other drumsticks
Adam Yauch and the Beastie Boys changed the world