Adam Yauch, the 47-year old founder of Beastie Boys, has lost his battle with cancer at the age of 47.
Adam Yauch of Beastie Boys image
Yauch, who performed as MCA in Beastie Boys, revealed he was diagnosed with cancer after a tumor was discovered on his salivary gland in 2009.
When Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month, Adam was too ill to attend.
Adam Yauch (MCA) founded the Beastie Boys with Adam Horowitz (Ad-Rock) and Michael Diamond (Mike D) in 1979. Originally they began as a hardcore punk band but evolved to hip-hop by 1984.
In 1986, Beastie Boys released ‘Licenced To Ill’. It was the very first hip-hop album to top the Billboard album chart in the USA and went on to sell over 9 million copies fuelled by its anthem (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party).
That success established Beastie Boys as the biggest hip-hop act in the world and lead Rolling Stone to use the headline ‘Three Idiots Create A Masterpiece”.
In 1988, Beastie Boys moved from Columbia Records to EMI and from producer Rick Rubin to producers The Dust Brothers to create another classic ‘Paul’s Boutique’. It is ranked no. 156 on the list of 500 Greatest Albums of Alltime by Rolling Stone.
In May 2009, Beastie Boys confirmed that their new album ‘Hot Sauce Committee’ would be released in September but on July 20 Yauch announced he had been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on his parotid gland and a lymph node. Beastie Boys cancelled their upcoming tour and postponed the release of the album.
Adam Nathaniel Yauch August 5, 1964-May 4, 2012
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