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Adam Yauch (MCA) of Beastie Boys has died
Cancer sucks.
Adam Yauch (MCA) of the Beastie Boys dead at 47
Updated 12:10 p.m. PT: Adam Yauch, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year with his pioneering rap trio Beastie Boys and founded the indie film company Oscilloscope Pictures, has died. He was 47.
Russell Simmons, co-founder of Beastie Boys label Def Jam, broke the news Friday on his website GlobalGrind.
"Adam was incredibly sweet and the most sensitive artist who I loved dearly. I was always inspired by his work. He will be missed by all of us," Simmons said.
A statement later appeared on the band's website.
"It is with great sadness that we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam "MCA" Yauch, founding member of Beastie Boys ... passed away in his native New York City this morning after a near-three-year battle with cancer," the statement said.
In 2009, Yauch was treated for a cancerous parotid gland and a lymph node and underwent surgery and radiation therapy, delaying the group?s release of the group?s album "Hot Sauce Committee" and a tour that included a headlining slot at Lollapalooza.
Yauch, known to Beasties fans by his stage name MCA, was unable to attend the Rock Hall induction ceremony April 14 in Cleveland. He said last year that he was ?continuing treatment, staying optimistic and hoping to be cancer-free in the near future."
Beastie Boys exploded on the national scene in late 1986 with the top 10 single ?(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party).? The group?s debut album "Licensed to Ill" became the first rap disc to top the Billboard 200, eventually spending seven weeks at No. 1 and selling more than 9 million units in the U.S.
The trio released eight albums, six of going platinum and four hitting No. 1, and sold a combined 22 million units stateside and more than 40 million worldwide.
Yauch and Michael ?Mike D? Diamond co-founded Beastie Boys in 1979 as a hardcore punk act. The group, then a quartet including future Lucious Jackson drummer Kate Schellenbach, released an EP titled "Polly Wog Stew." Adam ?Ad-Rock? Horovitz joined soon after, and the group began gravitating to the burgeoning New York hip-hop scene.
By 1984, the group had begun a working relationship with Rick Rubin, then a student at NYU who would go on to found Def Jam Records with Simmons, who became the band?s manager. ?We started doing rap in our shows,? Yauch told the Washington Post in 1987. ?We?d put down the instruments and rap for half the show. Then we just decided it would be kind of exciting to be an all-rap band. And we met Russell Simmons, and he was like: ?Oh, this is really cool. A white rap group?s really cool.? And when we found out he was Run-DMC?s manager, we thought, ?Wow!? "
In 2008, Yauch launched Oscilloscope Pictures, a film distribution and international sales unit of his Oscilloscope Laboratories that includes a recording studio and production unit.
Reuters reported that Yauch is survived by his wife, Dechen, and his daughter Tenzin Losel, as well as his parents Frances and Noel Yauch.
Re: Adam Yauch (MCA) of Beastie Boys has died
This breaks my heart. I have had a crush on Adam Yauch since I was 9 years old. so so sad
An American Girl's Travels
Blog: Call Me Imelda
Did you see Coldplay's tribute to the Beastie Boys, played last night after they learned that Adam Yauch had died?
http://www.eonline.com/news/coldplay_honors_beastie_boys_rapper/314079