[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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All the best, Yauch. I learned so much about other genres of music, not simply hip hop, just by listening to Beasties music and following the trail of crumbs you guys left behind. You will be missed and not forgotten. Cheers.
couldn't have said it better myself
@they sucked
Your mom sucked but everyone still banged her, i guess it's the same idea.
You gut locker....
that's because she also blew.
That's too bad, really makes me sad. You know you are starting to get really old when you think "But he was so young!" and then realize their hey day was already 30 years ago.... and then you realize you were already in your 30's when they were topping the charts! Sigh....
Very sad news. I wish I had made the effort to see these guys live when I had the chance. Paul's Boutique is one of the greatest albums ever! RIP brother MCA
Dirkha...picture this...dark stage. Sound. Lights up. Mix Master Mike is jammin. For like 5 minutes. He's spinning and grooving and scratching and getting the party started....then...out onto the stage bust the Beastie Boys who rock out 3 stellar songs. You are 5 feet from the stage. Then...suddenly....the house goes dark and the music stops cold....what happened? 10 seconds goes by. Sound fills the hall again...lights are still black. Can't see my hand in front of my face. Its Mix Master Mike back at it. You can hear him switching and flipping his beats. He's pumpin it with the baseline groovin with record scratches placed here and there the whole nine yards and he is just going to TOWN. THEN...lights emerge...something on stage left, audience right is happening. It become apparent that the light from stage left is emerging because there is a circular stage that is spinning around. As the circle stage turns around...you see Mix Master Mic is NOWHERE to be seen. It's the beasties jammin on their instruments. Ad-Rock is supplying the guitar and 'record scratches' from his guitar, MCA is groovin on the Bass and Mike D is well...He's being Mike D and the whole thing is GROOVIN!!! Amazing. Simply amazing brain tease they pulled....GREAT!!! If you learn to love, its great to be alive.
@Brown cool story man I can totally picture it, thanks.
Noooooo. Thank you for everything MCA.
R.I.P you will be missed.
This better be a gimmick, if not my day is now going down hill. this is a sad day for music history. R.I.P MCA. The other Beastie Boys will continue the legend!!
Sorry for their loss. However, they should have been inducted into the Rap Hall of Fame. The Beastie Boys are talentless in my personal opinion (and my fellow rockers), and now the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame doesn't even deserve the saliva to spit on the front sidewalk. It has proven itself irrelevant, especially since the rock group Rush has never been inducted. I do not mean to disregard the death of this man, but they were never of Rock caliber.
Rush blows, your a loser.
you obviously never listened to their music. nor did you actually see them play their instruments. punk rock through and through. and... rush is only good for their drummer.
This article isn't about this, so why bring it up?
Rock-n-Roll hall of fame is a joke. Some mystery committee decides who get in. However, the B-Boys are legends.
@realityblowz: lol really man? You and your fellow rockers? Playing a guitar in your moms garage at 40 and opening for a poison cover band at a bar 20 years ago does not make you a rocker, and does not give you any sort of experience on judging what good music is and what standards should be followed in order to be legitimate "rockers". You're posting on a blog, they played for tens of thousands and touched lives. They were worth much more than a stupid "hall of fame" that you think should be sacred and protected.
Rush is awesome! But Beasties are INCREDIBLE.
I understand the frustration felt by those who love Rush and their being snubbed entry into the RnR Hall of Fame. But that has nothing to do with the Beasties' legacy. You clearly do not know very much about them. They started as a punk band, played their own instruments, wrote their own music and broke down lots of barriers. Just like a rock band. It's not YOUR RnR Hall of Fame. It's everyone's.
Man, what a loss.
What an absolute shock and saddening moment. I grew up listening to The Beastie Boys. They are so positive and overall Earth friendly. My deepest prayers go to Adam's many Friends and Family.
Very sad news
Too young to go ....may Adam R.I.P. Thanks for the raps and laughs 
Now he can finally rest in peace at the Intergalactic Planetary. Or was it Planetary Intergalactic...
intergalactic planetary...dir dir dir dir dir dir dir dir lol
What's funny is my dad will be sad about this....I'm 26 btw
yeah .....That's real f in funny – your dad being sad about someone dying- and no one cares how old you are.
The Beastie Boys transcended generations and Adam will be sadly missed by those of us who appreciated their special blend of music ,sound bites,loops and Rhymes.
One of my favs. RIP MCA.
Few would know his name,.. that is why they have to put "beastie boys" in with his name in the headlines,...
what's your point?
Sabotage... Listen to it..... AWESOME!!!
That's because his stage name was MCA..
It would be kind of like if CNN wrote "Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta" without saying "Lady Gaga" next to it..
Fans most definitely know his "real name"
You are probably only 17. If you grew up in the 80's, you know who he is.