Grand Royal
Grand Royal was the Los Angeles, California-based vanity record label set up in 1992 by the Beastie Boys in conjunction with Capitol Records after the group left Def Jam Recordings.[1]
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Due to mounting debts, Grand Royal went out of business in 2001. Its assets were sold off via auction on Bid4Assets; these assets did not include any rights to Beastie Boys music.[2] The assets and back catalog were purchased by a group of fans who in turn started GR2 Records.[3] In 2016, GR2 sold the rights and master recordings of Grand Royal's second release My Crazy Life to a member of the band Dead Fucking Last.
Grand Royal was also the name of a magazine written and published by the group.[4] The total distribution of the six issues of Grand Royal was estimated at 300,000 copies.[5]
Grand Royal was most famous for its article "Mulling Over the Mullet" in issue two, which lampooned the mullet hairstyle (the Beastie Boys also recorded a song called "Mullet Head", which was released on Grand Royal on its Sure Shot 12-inch single).
See also
- List of record labels
- List of Grand Royal artists
- GR2 Records
References
- "Beasties Label Grand Royal to be Distributed by Capitol". Rolling Stone. December 9, 1993. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
- Werde, Bill (January 19, 2004). "For a Record Label Founded by the Beastie Boys, the End Is Less Than Grand". The New York Times. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
- Cross, Alan (2012). The Beastie Boys: the secret history. Joe Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-9270-0216-2.
- Woodbury, Jason P. (August 11, 2017). "The Magazine of Champions: On the Shabby Brilliance of "Grand Royal" Magazine". Flood Magazine. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
- Archive-Courtney-Reimer. "Beastie Boys Compiling Book Of Grand Royal Highlights". MTV News. Retrieved 2019-06-11.