KERRY KING Wishes He Had Asked For Better Financial Arrangement For His BEASTIE BOYS Collaboration

In a new interview with Ernest Skinner of Canada's Border City Rock Talk, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King spoke about his surprise guest appearances on the BEASTIE BOYS' 1987 track "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" and SUM 41's pop-punk hit "What We're All About". Regarding the former, King said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The simplicity of it is what's funny about it. We [SLAYER] 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. And [producer] 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.' I certainly wasn't well to do back then. 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, 'cause now I would be a rich man. [Laughs]"

Regarding his contribution to "What We're All About", Kerry said: "It's funny. I just ran into [SUM 41] in Europe a couple of times. They were on the same festivals with us, and I hadn't seen them in a long, long time. So they made a way to come out and say 'hey', which I was happy about, 'cause I hadn't seen them forever.

"How that one happened — I remember I turned it down for months and months and months," he explained. "I'm, like, 'My fans won't get it. My fans won't get it. My fans won't get it.' Then the guy from the record label — here's another funny story, kind of full circle of what we were talking about — he comes up to me and he says, 'Well, you did the BEASTIE BOYS.' And I went, 'Motherfucker!' [Laughs] So I'm, like, 'You're right.' So I did it."

Last year, King told Metal Hammer that his guest appearances with the BEASTIE BOYS and SUM 41 were "career choices," not creative ones.

"Well…there's a whole lot to say there," King said when the interviewer brought up his collab with SUM 41. "It was my record label that wanted me to do it. I turned it down 10 times.

"A friend of mine at the label came to me at an angle that I just couldn't argue with. He was, like, 'Well, you know you played on the BEASTIE BOYS record. Fuck! [Laughs] He's got a point. That was my epiphany."

"That was before we put ourselves back on the map," King continued, referencing SLAYER's transitional period after releasing a couple of albums on Metal Blade Records and eventually signing with Rubin's Def Jam Recordings. "[SUM 41] were fun and they were popping. So, yeah, I played on the BEASTIE BOYS record and I played on the SUM 41 record. I mean, those weren't choices for me, those were just career choices I made. Some people may agree with them and some people may not."

King's debut solo album, "From Hell I Rise", came out on May 17 via Reigning Phoenix Music. All material for the LP was written by the 60-year-old SLAYER guitarist, who was accompanied during the recording sessions by the rest of his solo band, consisting of drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER),bassist Kyle Sanders (HELLYEAH),guitarist Phil Demmel (formerly of MACHINE HEAD) and Mark Osegueda (DEATH ANGEL) on vocals. Helming the sessions at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles last year was producer Josh Wilbur, who has previously worked with KORN, LAMB OF GOD, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and BAD RELIGION, among others.

Kerry King will be special guest on the upcoming LAMB OF GOD/MASTODON North American "Ashes Of Leviathan" co-headline tour. The six-week run will launch on July 19 in Grand Prairie, Texas and will wrap on August 31 in Omaha, Nebraska.