Michael Diamond, better known as Mike D (born November 20, 1965), is a founding member of New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 hip hop group the Beastie Boys

Beastie Boys

Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....

. Mike D raps

Rapping

Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...

, sings, and plays drum

Drum

The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...

s alongside fellow members Ad-Rock, MCA and Mix Master Mike

Mix Master Mike

Mix Master Mike is an American turntablist and contributing member of the Beastie Boys.-Life and career:Born Michael Schwartz in San Francisco, California, Mix Master Mike is of German and Filipino descent. He first came to prominence upon winning the 1992 New Music Seminar/Supermen Inc...

.

Early life

Mike D was born in New York City, New York. Mike was raised in an upper-middleclass Jewish household. He attended Vassar College

Vassar College

Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...

 in Poughkeepsie

Poughkeepsie (town), New York

Poughkeepsie is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 42,777 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from the native term, "Uppu-qui-ipis-in," which means "reed-covered hut by the water."...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 for six months.

Career

In 1979, Diamond co-founded the band The Young Aborigines

The Young Aborigines

The Young Aborigines were experimental-hardcore band started in 1978 by Michael Diamond on drums, Kate Schellenbach on percussion, Jeremy Shatan on bass and John Berry on guitar....

. In 1981, Adam Yauch

Adam Yauch

Adam Nathaniel Yauch , , is a founding member of hip hop trio the Beastie Boys. He is frequently known by his stage name, MCA, and other pseudonyms such as Nathanial Hörnblowér.-Early life:...

, aka MCA, a friend and follower of the band became their bass player

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

, and from the suggestion of their then-guitar player, John Berry

John Berry

Sir John Berry was an English naval officer of the Royal Navy, and was in 1675 the captain of the annual convoy to Newfoundland that took place during the years of the colony's founding....

, the band changed their name to the Beastie Boys. By 1983, Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock) joined to form the lasting Beastie Boys trio, and their sound began to shift away from punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 to hip-hop. In 1992, Mike D founded the Beastie Boys' now-defunct record label Grand Royal Records.

Personal life

In 1993, Mike married film, television and music video director Tamra Davis

Tamra Davis

Tamra Davis is an American film, television and music video director.-Biography:She is known for directing films such as Billy Madison, CB4 and Half Baked and television shows such as My Name Is Earl and Everybody Hates Chris. She also directed the film Crossroads, starring Britney Spears.She...

. They have two boys, Skyler and Davis. He has two brothers, Stephen and David.