On Friday, May 4th, the music, snowboarding, art, and skateboarding industry lost a legendary influence with the passing of Adam Yauch, aka MCA from the Beastie Boys.
MCA was 47 years old and had been battling cancer since 2009. In 1979 MCA (Adam Yauch), Mike D (Mike Diamond), and Ad-Rock Adam Horovitz founded the Beastie Boys which eventually broke out with their 1986 release Licensed to Ill. What started as a hardcore punk group evolved into one of the ILLest hip-hop groups of all time. Just a month ago the Beastie Boys became the third rap group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
An official statement by the Beastie Boys reads, “It is with great sadness that we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch, founding member of the 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.”
The world is grieving the loss of the legend, the man, MCA. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Radiohead, Coldplay, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, many others and the Dalai Lama himself have expressed their true appreciation for Adam. The Dalai Lama released a statement stating ” Adam had helped us raise awareness on the plight of the Tibetan people by organizing various freedom Tibet concerts and he will be remembered by his holiness and the Tibetan people.”
On Sunday, Ad-Rock followed up the Beastie Boys press release with a statement on the band’s Tumblr page ” As you can imagine, shit is fucked up right now. But i wanna say think you to all our friends and family (which are kinda one in the same) for all the love and support. I’m glad to know that all the love that Yauch has put out into the world is coming right back at him.”
MCA and the Beastie Boys had a profound influence on all things Heckler, so lets pay tribute, show our love for MCA this week and bump the Beastie Boys loud and proud!