RIP, Adam "MCA" Yauch of the Beastie Boys

[DirtyMartini]

So, so sad.

http://music-mix.ew.com/2012/05/04/adam ... boys-dead/

This sucks.

[sockii]

...

damn.

[jeffseitz]

RIP

[Throb]

Can't get over he was a year older than me. Really makes you think....

[zilboy]

Can't get over he was a year older than me. Really makes you think....

He was the same age as me. Shoulda' had at least three more years according to Vespa.

F**K. RIP.

[LARNOULD THERESE]

SO SAD
RIP

[DirtyMartini]

From the Beasties site:

http://www.beastieboys.com/

Adam Yauch | 1964-2012

It is 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. He was 47 years old.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Yauch taught himself to play bass in high school, forming a band for his 17th birthday party that would later become known the world over as Beastie Boys.

With fellow members Michael "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Adrock" Horovitz, Beastie Boys would go on to sell over 40 million records, release four #1 albums–including the first hip hop album ever to top the Billboard 200, the band's 1986 debut full length, Licensed To Ill–win three Grammys, and the MTV Video Vanguard Lifetime Achievement award. Last month Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with Diamond and Horovitz reading an acceptance speech on behalf of Yauch, who was unable to attend.

In addition to his hand in creating such historic Beastie Boys albums as Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty and more, Yauch was a founder of the Milarepa Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness and activism regarding the injustices perpetrated on native Tibetans by Chinese occupational government and military forces. In 1996, Milarepa produced the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, which was attended by 100,000 people, making it the biggest benefit concert on U.S. soil since 1985's Live Aid. The Tibetan Freedom Concert series would continue to stage some of the most significant benefit shows in the world for nearly a decade following in New York City, Washington DC, Tokyo, Sydney, Amsterdam, Taipei and other cities.

In the wake of September 11, 2001, Milarepa organized New Yorkers Against Violence, a benefit headlined by Beastie Boys at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, with net proceeds disbursed to the New York Women's Foundation Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Association for New Americans (NYANA) September 11th Fund for New Americans–each chosen for their efforts on behalf of 9/11 victims least likely to receive help from other sources.

Under the alias of Nathanial Hörnblowér, Yauch directed iconic Beastie Boys videos including "So Whatcha Want," "Intergalactic," "Body Movin" and "Ch-Check It Out." Under his own name, Yauch directed last year's Fight For Your Right Revisited, an extended video for "Make Some Noise" from Beastie Boys' Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, starring Elijah Wood, Danny McBride and Seth Rogen as the 1986 Beastie Boys, making their way through a half hour of cameo-studded misadventures before squaring off against Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as Beastie Boys of the future.

Yauch's passion and talent for filmmaking led to his founding of Oscilloscope Laboratories, which in 2008 released his directorial film debut, the basketball documentary Gunnin' For That #1 Spot and has since become a major force in independent video distribution, amassing a catalogue of such acclaimed titles as Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy, Oren Moverman's The Messenger, Banksy's Exit Through The Gift Shop, Lance Bangs and Spike Jonze's Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait Of Maurice Sendak, and many more.

Yauch is survived by his wife Dechen and his daughter Tenzin Losel, as well as his parents Frances and Noel Yauch.

This really, really sucks.

[Howstupidmrbates]

Yes, very sad. I saw the Beastie Boys at the Voodoo Festival in New Orleans in 2004, and they really put on one heck of a show. R.I.P.

[policerule]

Want to scream. RIP

[samburusunset]

Wow. I saw them at Virgin Fest the year The Police played.

[Tamadude]

One of the most distinctive voices in all of rap and hip hop, both old and new school. 

I think the three bad brothers are done now, but they've had a good run. Ive seen them a bunch of times, have thier whole catalog.

One of the things I admired them for most was bringing real instruments into the genre. Especially the acoustic drums. Great grooves and beats. They were masters at using real life  humor in thier lyrics, and they never had to resort to all the gangstabitch blingcrap rap that typifies the hip hop of today.

Yauch was a pioneer. 

RIP.

[empty]

I cried last fall when I saw him, with relief.

I cried today. He was a crazy genius, a great activist and man.

Cancer really sucks. I am relieved he is no longer in pain.

[conroy]

RIP

[giovanni]

NOOOO....too bad!!!

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Went to one of the Tibet shows in NYC back in probably 1996 or so. Saw the Beasties in their prime there and at Lollapalooza... a couple of shows I'll never forget. Then again at Bonnaroo in 1999, who'd've thought maybe one of their last shows.

What an unmitigated drag. As DM said on Facebook, "fuck cancer."