Beastie Boys co-founder Adam Yauch, aka MCA, has died at the age of 47. Yauch had been undergoing treatment after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009 when a tumor was discovered in his salivary gland. He is survived by his wife Dechen Wangdu, with whom he had a daughter, Tenzin Losel Yauch.
Adam’s treatment had prevented him from attending the Beastie Boys’ induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month. His treatments delayed the release of the group’s most recent album, Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2 – the band had not played any live events since 2009. Yauch’s cancer also forced them to put music video productions for the album on hold, Rolling Stone reported.
The Beastie Boys had sold 40 million records worldwide by 2010. In 2012, the group was inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. Yauch was inducted in absentia due to his illness, with his bandmates paying him warm tribute from the stage; a letter from Yauch was read to the crowd. Fellow inductees the Red Hot Chili Peppers dedicated their live performance to Yauch.
In 2011, Yauch received the Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters from Bard College, the college he attended for two years. The award is “given in recognition of a significant contribution to the American artistic or literary heritage.”