[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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Words cant express it...your music will live on. RIP Adam.
wat 2 young 2 b gone,condolences to his family
RIP.......sad news.....
Yet another music Star taken wayyyy too soon....RIP MCA...... Your Licensed To Ill album introduced me to the rap scene while still keeping the grunge/metal alive. You will never be forgotten.
Love this guy and his band. He made so many of my memories better. Beastie Boys were a huge part of the soundtrack to my youth.
RIP MCA. Thanks for the great times. Thoughts and prayers to your family and friends.
RIP MCA!
Nathaniel Hornblower is legend.
RIP MCA..You and your music will live on forever !!!! Gone but will never be forgotten
oh wow. This is sad news. That first album was a teenager rebel's soundtrack. They were a great group of guys that did it their way and what others thought be danged. I hope MCA is somewhere partying hard, rapping about things and enjoying himself. Have a quart of beer for us as you ride on Paul Revere, buddy.
Glad to hear it, Bush hater. What a jerk. Bye Bye!!!!! Thank goodness another liberal gone.....
Wow, I hope people say, "glad she's gone" when you die.
wow.....youre an idiot.
wow, how Christian of you. Just like a conservative. How anyone can live for politics is beyond me. and to come to a board of someone who dies with no intentions except to say you are happy someone has died shows some real class. Liberals or Conservatives both need to stop. Let the man RIP. You have no place in the world. Just a small, closed minded bigot. What a life you must lead. His music will live on, being loved by many. What have you done?
you are a sad little person with a sad little life. enjoy living under the bridge you sad sad troll
that's what america's all about. Wishing death on people that disagree with your ideals.
What should I expect from a Bush supporter?
Wow... your ignorance is only surpassed by your ugliness. It must be lonely being so hateful.
There is a special place in Hades for people like you and W.
I think you belong int he middle east this America we have the right to believe in what we want.
Janie I hope you die a terrible death
what a terrible, and disrespectful thing to say about someone that just died of cancer. shame on you.
Ain't seen the light since we started this band
M.C.A. get on the mic my man
Born and bred Brooklyn U.S.A.
They all me Adam Yauch but I'm M.C.A.
Like a lemon to a lime a lime to a lemon
I sip the def ale with all the fly women
Got limos, arena, TV shows
Autograph pictures and classy hos
Step off homes get out of my way
Taxing little girlies form here to L.A.
Waking up before I get to sleep
Cause I'll be rocking this party eight days a week
No Sleep TIll Brooklyn.
Very sad. Beastie Boys are legendary! Thanks for leaving a legacy to be enjoyed.
RIP– grew up with thie music.. My heart is rather heavy right now..
A fan going back to "cookie Puss' and "she's on it", you will be missed
Cookie Puss! I had the original lp...... you knew right away they were special..
As they progressed, I started seeing MCA as the 'intellectual/philosopher" of the band. His lyrics could actually be quite insightful at times.