Adam “MCA” Yauch, the rapper, musician, activist, filmmaker and film distributor who founded pioneering hip-hop trio the Beastie Boys, as well as indie film distrib company Oscilloscope Laboratories, died on Friday in New York after a three-year battle with cancer. He was 47. Born in Brooklyn in 1964, Yauch was an only child of an architect and a homemaker. He began playing bass guitar and formed his first band at age 17, eventually creating hardcore punk act the Beastie Boys. After some early changes, the group’s primary lineup consisted of Yauch, Michael “Mike D” Diamond, Kate Schellenbach and Adam Berry. The group played the New York punk circuit and released EP “Polly Wog Stew” in 1982.
After tours opening for Madonna and Run DMC, the group released the Rubin-produced, Def Jam-released “Licensed to Ill” in November of 1986, quickly spawning singles “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party),” “No Sleep Till Brooklyn,” “Paul Revere” and “Brass Monkey.” The album would remain at the pinnacle of the Billboard album chart for five straight weeks.
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