Adam Yauch, co-founder of the groundbreaking rap group the Beastie Boys passed away Friday morning in New York City. He was 47.
Yauch shocked fans across the globe when he announced in 2009 that he was receiving treatment for cancer after doctors discovered a tumor in his salivary gland. The group put plans to record and tour on hold immediately after, but still managed to drop their eighth studio album, Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2., in 2011.
The Beastie Boys, who broke out in the early 80s after performing with the likes of Madonna and Run DMC, had not performed publically since the summer before Yauch disclosed his illness when the group headlined an evening of the annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.
"The passing of Adam Yauch today will hit many music fans very, very hard - especially those who grew up with the Beastie Boys through the rise of rap in the 80s and during the group's reign as one of the most important groups of the Lollpapalooza Nation," radio host Alan Cross writes Friday of the passing of the rapper, who often used the monicker "MCA" to identify himself.
The Beastie Boys confirmed Yauch's passing early Friday with an official statement released to the media. The group remembers MCA as not just a friend, colleague and cohort, but as an activist and director. Yauch, reminds the group, also helped to produce te Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits and launched his own production and distribution company, Oscilloscope Laboratories.
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