[Updated at 3:03 p.m. ET] Adam "MCA" Yauch, a founding member of the pioneering rap band the Beastie Boys, has died after a nearly three-year battle with cancer, the band's publicist said Friday. He was 47.
Yauch revealed in July 2009 that he had surgery for cancer in a salivary gland and a lymph node.
What is salivary gland cancer?
Yauch's death comes less than a month after the Beastie Boys were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Because of his fight with cancer, Yauch did not attend, Rolling Stone magazine reported.
The Beastie Boys – Yauch, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz and Michael "Mike D" Diamond – did not perform that night. But Horovitz read a letter from Yauch to the audience.
"I'd like to dedicate this to my brothers Adam and Mike," Yauch wrote, according to Rolling Stone. "They walked the globe with me. It's also for anyone who has ever been touched by our band. This induction is as much ours as it is yours."
Yauch's cancer delayed the release of the band's most recent album, "Hot Sauce Committee Part Two," for two years. It was supposed to come out in 2009 but instead was released in spring 2011.
The Beastie Boys' debut album, 1986's "Licensed to Ill" – featuring the singles "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)," "No Sleep Till Brooklyn," "Paul Revere" and "Brass Monkey" – was the first rap album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard album charts.
Yauch was a founding member of the group, which played for the first time at his birthday party in 1981, according to the band’s Facebook page.
He converted to Buddhism in the 1990s after visiting Nepal and hearing the Dalai Lama speak in Arizona, he told the Buddhist magazine Shambhala Sun in 1995.
As a Buddhist, Yauch became an advocate for Tibetan freedom, organizing concerts involving the Beastie Boys and other acts to raise money for the cause, including the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in 1996. Several similar concerts followed.
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RIP brother. Your music lives!
Every music device in the home/car/office will be churning out Beastie Boys all weekend! RIP, Adam, you'll be missed, but your music will live on forever.
god bless bro. god bless your family and friends.... god bless especially those two.
RIP. Been fan since 86. Thanks for the music.
So sad! I had hoped he'd win his battle! condolences to his family & his "brothers" the Beastie Boys! RIP Adam "MCA" Yauch!!
Terrible. Just terrible. So young to die. Well, at least he left the world something amazing to remember him by. Rest in Peace man, you guys are legends.
RIP MCA... Great tunes to listen to during a lalapalooza concert.
legends never die
I am not ready for this... RIP ADAM
Rest in Peace MCA, I grew up with License to Ill. My prayers are with your family and fellow Beasites, Ad Rock and Mike D.
"We don't stroll but we roll straight to the top..."
misspelled Beasties. just so sad!
RIP man...where is the media coverage for this? I mean when that crackhead died, the world stopped. Beastie Boys were far more influential...
Amen to that Bro...just shows how slewed the media can be.
"RIP man...where is the media coverage for this?'
Uh, do you realize how stupid you look asking where the media is while you are commenting on a front page story by.......the media.
RIP....So sad to hear...
Good luck on the other side! You are a legend here!
RIP. this guy lived life the way it was meant to be.
Very sad. RIP.
RIP MCA, I grew up on thier music, sad to hear he's gone......My man MCA has a beard like a billie goat!!