The final three nominees for the 2011 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame are Chic, Beastie Boys, and LL Cool J.
Chic
We'll start with Chic, a primarily disco band founded by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards that made its mark as producers as much as with "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsa, Yowsa, Yowsa)," "Le Freak," and "Everybody Dance," among other disco ditties. Originally a rock and R&B band, Rodgers and Edwards added Tony Thompson and Norma Jean Wright as a lead singer (eventually adding Luci Martin too). The renamed group hit the road as Chic as dance fever infected the country. While still releasing dance LPs as Chic the group also wrote and produced a host of other chart-topping records including Sister Sledge's We Are Family, Diana Ross' Diana, and Blondie's Debbie Harry's solo outing KooKoo. Chic has been nominated to the R&R Hall in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Rodgers and Chic still perform, though without original members Edwards and Thompson who died in 1996 and 2003 respectively.
Beastie Boys
Started in 1979 as a punk rock band, this New York City group took the name Beastie Boys in 1981 and quickly found itself supporting Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys and other punk bands at popular New York punk clubs such as CBGBs and Max's Kansas City. FOllowing siginng in 1984 to Def Jam with producer Rick Rubens, Beastie Boys went from punk to rap and became a trio, releasing the breakthrough Rock Hard EP in 1985 and License to Ill in 1986. The sample-heavy Paul's Boutique which eventually sold a million copies followed in 1988 with Check Your Head in 1992 on the band's own Grand Royal label (which featured former Beastie Kate Schellenbach's band Luscious Jackson as well as Julian Lennon, John's first kid). The Beasties returned to the top of the charts with Ill Communication in 1994, earned a headlining slot opposite The Smashing Pumpkins at Lollapalooza the same year, and in 1998 released Hello Nasty, which featured the addition of Mix Master Mike and catapulted them to #1 in the U.S. The Beastie Boys made another impact in the music industry when in 2003 a judge ruled in their favor in the case Newton vs. Diamond. The judge ruled that the Beastie's sampling of six seconds of James Newton's "Choir" in their song "Pass the Mic" did not violate copyright law -- a ruling that nudged open the door to sampling by other rap and hip-hot artists.
LL Cool J
From his earliest release, Radio, with hits "Rock the Bells" and I Can't Live Without My Radio," LL Cool J (Ladies Love Cool James) signaled that he was anything but a "typical" rapper. His romantic ballads, his use of standard song structures, and his almost pop-oriented approach made rap accessible to more than that music's core audience. Consider these numbers: Radio, 1.5 million in sale; Bigger and Deffer, 2.3 million; Walking with a Panther, 1.1; Mama Said Knock You Out, 2.7 million. And that's just his first four Def Jam releases. He went on to release another eight records, plus a greatest hits package, and almost all of them were driven by singles that burst onto the charts and stayed there: "I Need Love," "Goin Back to Cali," "I'm That Type of Guy," Jingling Baby," "Doin' It," and "Phenomenon" are just a few. Following his last release, Exit 13 in 2008, LL focused on the acting career he had dabbled in. He is now a regular on NCIS: Los Angeles.
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