Slayer guitarist and co-founder Kerry King revealed the one regret he has about doing the guitar solo on the Beastie Boys’ 1986 track “No Sleep Till Brooklyn,” featured on their album License to Ill. During that time, Slayer was working on their album Reign in Blood, recording nearby the Beastie Boys. King hopped over to do the solo, but in a recent interview he revealed that he regrets not striking a better deal for his work.
Speaking with Border City Rock Talk, King shared the details that led him to accepting a one-time payment for his solo. “The simplicity of it is what’s funny about it,” he began, sharing the context of the collaboration. “We 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.”
He continued, “And 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.’”
Apparently, he realized later that he should have struck a deal for his work on the song instead of taking a one-off payment. “I certainly wasn’t well to do back then,” he said. “So, that’s what I did. I went in there and I did it. And in hindsight, I wish I didn’t get paid. I wish I took a quarter point or something, because now I would be a rich man!”
[RELATED: Aftershock Festival 2024: How To Get Tickets & More]
Kerry King Details Slayer’s Decision to Never Tour Again
Kerry King also shared some details on why Slayer has decided to never tour again, despite reuniting for a handful of festivals. Speaking with Out Of The Box on Q104.3 out of New York, King put the decision into perspective.
“I’ll put it in the perspective everybody can understand,” he began. “We’ve been turning down offers since the beginning of 2020, pandemic and all. And then it started getting near the five-year anniversary of us stopping playing, so I’m, like, ‘You know what? This is a three-show package. I think it would be fun to do.’ It’s kind of a five-year anniversary of our last tour.”
He continued, “We’re never gonna tour again — it ain’t gonna happen. We’re never gonna record again; that’s not gonna happen either. But to do commemorative shows, I think that’s kind of fun. I don’t have to be married to it for a long time. Kids don’t have to worry about it coming around on tour because we said we wouldn’t. There’s not a whole lot of weird diabolical s–t going on here. I think people have just gotta say, ‘Hey, it’s anniversary celebration shows.’ That’s gonna be the end of it.”
Featured Image by Reynaud Julien/APS-Medias/ABACA/Shutterstock
Most Popular
Comments / 0