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.
Adam Yauch Of Beastie Boys Dies At Age 47
The iconic rapper had been battling cancer since 2009, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year.
Posted By: Gil Kaufman, MTV.com Fri, 04 May 2012 17:46:00 GMT
Adam Yauch (Photo: Mick Hutson/Getty Images)
Adam Yauch, one of the founding members of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rap trio the Beastie Boys, died on Friday (May 4) at the age of 47 after a lengthy battle with cancer. The news was announced on the Global Grind website, which is run by Def Jam Records co-founder Russell Simmons, the man who signed the Beasties to their first label deal.
"GlobalGrind is confirming this very sad news," read the post. "One of our heroes, Adam Yauch aka MCA of the Beastie Boys has passed this morning after a long bout with cancer. Our prayers go out to the family of Adam and the entire Beastie Boys crew."
For photos of Yauch through the years, click here.
Rumors about Yauch's ongoing battle with cancer were sparked anew last month when the rapper was not present alongside fellow band members Adam Horovitz and Michael Diamond at the group's induction into the Hall of Fame
as just the third rap group to ever achieve that honor. Yauch had been off the public scene since 2009 when he was diagnosed with cancer after a tumor was discovered on his salivary gland
. His treatment delayed the release of the group's 2011 album, Hot Sauce Committee, Part 2
and it had kept the normally tour-happy trio off the road for the past three years.
With his gravelly voice and laconic rapping style, Yauch stood out in the trio, whose other members tended to have faster, more nasal flows. He formed the B-Boys in 1979 while still in high school as a hardcore punk band, but their sound progressed over the years until they emerged as one of the most successful rap groups in history. After getting signed to Def Jam in 1984 they released the smash Licensed to Ill, which included such hits as "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right To Party," "Brass Monkey," "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" and "She's Crafty." Their next album, the psychedelic1988 release Paul's Boutique set a new high-water mark for the art of sampling and stands today as one of the finest examples of the art. Like their label mates and friends in Run-DMC, the B-Boys excelled at seamlessly interweaving their vocals, trading off lines and verses at lightning speed. Amid the barrage of verbal gymnastics, though, Yauch's voice stood out for its world-weariness and unhurried cadence on tracks like "High Plains Drifter" and his tongue-twisting, double-time disco breaking showcase midway through the 12-minute Boutique epic, "B-Boy Bouillabaisse."
Though all three Boys emerged on the national scene with snotty, party hardy attitudes, it was Yauch who grew into the most centered and serious member of the group. In addition to playing bass, he also directed many of the group's videos under the pseudonym Nathaniel Hornblower. Rarely seen in public, Hornblower made a legendary appearance at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards, bum rushing R.E.M. as his alter ego after they took the Best Direction award over Beastie pal Spike Jonze for his landmark work in their cop-show spoofing clip "Sabotage."
He was also instrumental in organizing a series of all-star concerts between 1996 and 2001 to raise awareness of the repression of the Tibetan people. The shows, which combined activism and music, featured sets from traditional Buddhist acts and speakers as well the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, De La Soul, Beck, Foo Fighters, U2, Radiohead, Dave Matthews Band, R.E.M. and Pearl Jam.
Yauch, a practicing Buddhist who revised some of his young and wild lyrics in concert later in life, went on to direct many more video for his band, as well as the kaleidoscopic 2006 Beasties live movie, "Awesome, I F---in' Shot That!" He also formed Oscilloscope Laboratories, a film company that distributed a number of documentaries and features, including "We Need To Talk About Kevin," "Dark Days," "Meek's Cutoff," "Beautiful Losers" and the Banksy doc "Exit Through the Gift Shop."
UPDATE: A representative for Adam released the following statement.
"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."
Share your thoughts and condolences for Adam Yauch in the comments section or Tweet us at @MTVNewsCanada with the hashtag #RIPAdam.
(CNN)
Yauch, 47, revealed in 2009 that he had a cancerous tumor in a salivary gland. As a result, the band canceled its scheduled concerts and delayed the release of an album.
"I started feeling this little lump in my throat, like you would feel if you have swollen glands or something like that, like you'd feel if you have a cold, so I didn't really think it was anything," he said then in a video to fans.
Yauch, a self-taught bassist and vocalist, underwent surgery to treat the tumor that year.
2009: Beastie Boys' MCA announces cancer
2009: Springsteen, Beasties at Bonnaroo
The Beastie Boys burst on the music scene in 1986 with the album "Licensed to Ill," which included hits such as "(You Gotta) Fight for the Right (to Party"), "Brass Monkey" and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn."
The group, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last month, came together for the first time to play at Rauch's 17th birthday party, its publicist said.
Yauch was the oldest of the Beastie Boys, an only child who grew up in Brooklyn Heights, according to Current Biography magazine. The band, which also featured Michael "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Adrock" Horovitz, sold more than 40 million records.
Under an alias, Yauch directed several Beastie Boys videos, including "Intergalactic" and "So What'cha Want."
Yauch converted to Buddism in the 1990s after visiting Nepal and hearing the Dalai Lama speak in Arizona, he told the Buddhist magazine Shambhala sun in 1995.
"It just seemed like Buddhism, especially Tibetan Buddhism -- because that's mainly what I've been exposed to -- was a real solid organization of teachings to point someone in the right direction," the magazine quoted him as saying. "Some real well thought out stuff. But I don't know, like, every last detail about Buddhism."
The conversion led him to have second thoughts about the bawdy party-boy image the band portrayed in the 1980s, he told the Boston Globe in 1998.
"I didn't realize how much harm I was doing back then and I think a lot of rap artists probably don't realize it now," the newspaper quoted him as saying. "I said a lot of stuff fooling around back then, and I saw it do a lot of harm. I had kids coming up to me and saying, 'Yo, I listen to your records while I'm smoking dust, man.' And I'd say, 'Hey, man, we're just kidding. I don't smoke dust.' People need to be more aware of how they're affecting people."
As a Buddhist, Yauch became an advocate for Tibetan freedom.
He founded the Milarepa Fund, which helped raise money for the effort, and organized charity concerts involving the Beastie Boys and other acts, including the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in 1996. Several similar concerts followed.
The Milarepa Fund also organized a 9/11 benefit concert for residents deemed unlikely to get aid from other sources.
Yauch is survived by his wife, Dechen, and a daughter, according to the band's publicist.
Adam Yauch (MCA) of the Beastie Boys dead at 48
By Rolling Stone
Ron Galella, Ltd. / WireImage
The Beastie Boys, from left, Adam Horovitz, Mike Diamond and Adam Yauch in an undated file photo.
Adam Yauch, one-third of the pioneering hip-hop group the
Beastie Boys, has died at the age of 48, Rolling Stone has learned. Yauch, also known as MCA, had been in treatment for cancer since 2009. The rapper was
diagnosed in 2009 after discovering a tumor in his salivary gland.
Yauch
sat out the Beastie Boys' induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April, and his treatments delayed the release of the group's most recent album, "Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2." The Beastie Boys had not performed live since the summer of 2009, and Yauch's illness prevented the group from appearing in music videos for "Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2."
Yauch co-founded the Beastie Boys with Mike "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horowitz in 1979. The band started off as a hardcore punk group, but soon began experimenting with hip-hop. The band broke big with their first proper album, "Licensed to Ill," in 1986, and further albums "Paul's Boutique," "Check Your Head" and "Ill Communication" cemented the band as a true superstar act.
In addition to his career with the Beastie Boys, Yauch was heavily involved in the movement to free Tibet and co-organized the Tibetan Freedom Concerts of the late Nineties. In 2002, he launched the film production company Oscilloscope Laboratories.
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May 4th, 2012
01:28 PM ET
Adam "MCA" Yauch, a member of the groundbreaking New York rap trio Beastie Boys, has died at the age of 47,
Rolling Stone magazine reported Friday afternoon.
Yauch
revealed in July 2009 that he had surgery for a cancer in a salivary gland and a lymph node. Information on the cause of Yauch's death wasn't immediately available.
Yauch's death would come less than a month after the Beastie Boys were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Because of his fight with cancer, Yauch
did not attend, Rolling Stone reported.
The Beastie Boys
– Yauch, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horowitz and Michael "Mike D" Diamond
– did not perform that night. But Horowitz read a letter from Yauch to the audience.
"I'd like to dedicate this to my brothers Adam and Mike," Yauch wrote, according to Rolling Stone. "They walked the globe with me. It's also for anyone who has ever been touched by our band. This induction is as much ours as it is yours."
2009 video: Cancer cancels Beastie Boys' tour dates
Yauch's cancer delayed the release of their most recent album, "Hot Sauce Committee Part II," for two years. It was supposed to come out in 2009, but instead was released in spring 2011.
The Beastie Boys' debut album, 1986's "Licensed to Ill"
– featuring the singles "
(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)," "
No Sleep Till Brooklyn" " Paul Revere" and "Brass Monkey"
– was the first rap album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard album charts.
