[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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Unbelievably depressing day this has become.
"My man MCA has a beard like a billygoat"
oot oot was my disco call
Beastie Boys! More like Yeastie Boys?
Sad for him but I hated there music I don't know why people even listen to there crap for so long.
I've killed men for less.
Clearly while others were listening to their music YOU were not paying attention in English class.
You suck. No one cares if you like their music or not. How narcissistic are you to think that this is the forum for your musical opinions? Someone's obituary?
Thanks for your clueless opinion. It is really appropriate at this time. Do you often place your foot in your mouth?
They were pioneers and apparently over your head
Keep your uneducated opinion to yourself in future matters.
Have some respect.
Taste is subjective... and the proper word is 'their' not there, stay in school
their* their* – learn proper grammar if you're going to comment on articles.
Either you've got really bad taste in music, or you're just very ignorant, but The Beastie Boys changed the face of rap for the better. They were and still are the faces of rap. They're legends. Always will be. RIP MCA. You'll never be forgotten.
Can't tell if you're a troll or just a POS. EIther way, you can't spell first grade words.
"there music"?
I guess it takes a certain amount of intelligence to appreciate Beastie Boys. I have listened to them since 3rd grade, about the time I learned the difference between there, their, and they're!
One of my heroes has moved on to another plane. I will miss MCA. His music, film and good vibes are forever! Peace to AdRock, Mike D, and MCA's family!
These guys made a lot of $$$$ and they could have let that, their egos and ambitions get the better of them and sue each other and communicate with one another only through attorneys like may others, including GNR. After three decades they not only getting along but considered each other brothers. That says a lot about these guys and is very touching.
"Now my name is M.C.A. I've got a license to kill
I think you know what time it is it's time to get ill
Now what do we have here an outlaw and his beer
I run this land, you understand I make myself clear."
We stepped into the wind he had a gun, I had a grin
You think this story's over but it's ready to begin
Paul Revere
"Now I got the gun you got the brew
You got two choices of what you can do
It's not a tough decision as you can see
I can blow you away or you can ride with me" I said, I'll ride with you if you can get me to the border
The sheriff's after me for what I did to his daughter
I did it like this, I did it like that
I did it with a whiffleball bat
So I'm on the run the cop's got my gun
And right about now it's time to have some fun
Some voiices had trebble, some voices had bass, they had the kind of voices that were in your face. RIP MCA
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame should be called the Music Hall of Fame. Beastie Boys were never a rock band.
Technically they started off as a punk band...
Wrong.
Actually, The Beastie Boys started out as a punk rock band before they ventured into hip hop.
and your point?
Actually they started off as a punk group. Throughout their career their performances included rap , punk and jazz music. I know many people who were surprised by this when they went to see a Beastie Boys show but that's how they were.
Michael jackson wasnt rock either but he was inducted. theres a lot of non-rock artists who have been inducted because they were just talented. but beastie boys had some rock in their music. not much but some.
A lot of people didn't know that they are also musicians that play lots of their own music. They're were never just a rap group.
Beastie Boys = Trailblazing Legends. Ya did good kid. RIP MCA.
You will be missed by all Adam.
Hope we can avoid the negative comments from the uptight crowd and remember that these guys made rap fun, funny and smart. Some of their tracks are so layered with nuance, style and uniqueness, there is an appreciation for their foray into unchartered waters.
Cancer sucks. Rest easy MCA.
SO
well put .
He was always my favorite. RIP MCA, what awful news!!
Your music helped shape my life. You will be very missed, bro. Very missed.
RIP...sad, sad, sad...
I remember seeing the Beastie Boys back in 1985 when they were still a punk band. Adam Yauch played bass and they had a girl drummer. I'm sure this will mean the end of the Beastie's.