Run-DMC Reuniting for Fun Fun Fun Fest
It's time to break out your Adidas sneakers and heavy gold chains. Classic New York City hip-hop group Run-DMC will be reuniting for their first performance in more than a decade at the Austin, Texas, Fun Fun Fun Fest this fall.
The group, now consisting of surviving members Joseph "Run" Simmons, 47, and Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, 48, is set to headline the main stage of the weekend-long event, which takes place from Nov. 2 to 4. The festival, which was launched in 2006, brings together top acts from the hip-hop, indie-alternative, metal and comedy worlds.
The announcement of the reunited group's inclusion in this year's lineup was made today on YouTube, in a clip that placed the name of the festival in the style of the group's trademark logo.
Formed in Hollis, Queens, in the early 1980s by Simmons, McDaniels and Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell, the group quickly defined to hip-hop genre throughout the decade, with hits like "It's Like That/Sucker MCs" and "Rock Box" climbing the charts throughout the first half of the decade.
The group then put out two of rap's landmark records: 1986's "Raising Hell," which contained the lead single "Walk This Way," on which they were joined by Aerosmith, the band they were covering, and the favorite "It's Tricky." "Tougher Than Leather" from 1988 featured hit singles "Run's House/Beats to the Rhyme" and "Mary Mary."
The group recorded infrequently throughout the 1990s, and turned the focus on individual projects including remixing and running their own record labels.
Mizell was shot and killed in 2002 at his recording studio in Queens. His slaying at age 37 has yet to be solved. In the aftermath of his death, Simmons and McDaniels announced that the group was officially disbanding.
McDaniels has since released a marginally successful solo album called "Checks Thugs and Rock n Roll," while Simmons launched a popular reality-TV show on MTV called "Run's House," which showed his life as a father and husband.
It's unclear whether the reunited group will announce a tour after the reunion gig.