Originally a 7-minute track, LL Cool J was unhappy with the first recording of “Rock The Bells”. With the assistance of The Beastie Boys' Adrock, a new reworked 4-minute recording became the popular version that appears on LL’s debut album Radio and served as the third single from it. The track peaked at #17 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-hop Chart in 1986.

The track’s name later served as the name of a festival and tour of hip-hop artists that spanned 2004-2013, and is the name of a hip-hop station on SiriusXM that includes features hosted by LL, launched in 2018.