Beastie Boys Adam Yauch Dead
Terrible news this week with the sad loss of
influential rapper Adam Yauch a.k.a. 'MCA'.
The Beastie Boys rapper was diagnosed with cancer in 2009, and died in
2012 at the age of 47. Yauch, best known as MCA, was diagnosed in 2009
after discovering a tumor in his salivary gland.
In an official statement it was expressed that "With great sadness that
we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam 'MCA'
Yauch, founding member of Beastie Boys and also of the Milarepa
Foundation that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits, and film
production and distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories, passed
away in his native New York City this morning after a near-three-year
battle with cancer".
At the Beastie Boys Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in April,
Yauch sat out due to his treatments which also delayed the release of
the group's most recent album, Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2. In fact, The
Beastie Boys had not performed live since the summer of 2009, and
Yauch's illness sadly also prevented the group from appearing in music
videos for Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2.
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Adam Yauch
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In addition to his career with the Beastie Boys,
Yauch was heavily involved in the movement to free Tibet.
A founder of
the Milarepa Fund, Yauch was instrumental in the first Tibetan Freedom
Concert in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park 1996, which drew 100,000
people – the largest U.S. benefit concert since 1985's Live Aid. After
9/11, Yauch and the Beastie Boys organized New Yorkers Against
Violence, a concert benefit for some of the victims least likely to
receive help from elsewhere.
His influence can be seen and heard far and wide across the music
community, most recently, this touching tribute from worldwide
sensations Coldplay...
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