Beastie Boy Adam Yauch (aka MCA) dead at 47

Beastie Boy Adam Yauch (aka MCA) dead at 47

By Liz Kelly Nelson

    

May 4, 2012 1:07 PM ET

Follow @lizkellynelson on Twitter  |  Google Adam Yauch (aka MCA) one of three members of the groundbreaking group the Beastie Boys, is dead at 47 after losing a battle with cancer. Both GlobalGrind, the news site owned by hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, and TMZ confirmed the news, despite the fact that the Beastie Boys management company had "no comment" as of this writing.

In 2009, Yauch shared the news that he undergoing treatment for a cancerous parotid gland and lymph node in a video posted to the band's website. After surgery and radiation treatment, he said -- in 2011 -- that he wasn't cancer free, but optimistic about treatment.

Concerns were again raised when Yauch was unable to attend the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April.

"Beastie Boys regret that Adam 'MCA' Yauch will be unable to join Mike 'Mike D' Diamond and Adam 'Adrock' Horovitz at the band's induction into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in April," read a statement from the band. "Mike, Adam and Adam are truly grateful for the honor but with only two of the three Beastie Boys attending, they will unfortunately not be able to perform at the ceremony."

The Beastie Boys hit the music scene in the late 1980's with a novel take on rap and quickly topped music ch arts with their album "Licenced to Ill." And despite assumptions that they were one-hit wonders, the band persevered, evolved and put out several ground-breaking albums that melded hip-hop, rock, reggae, techno and punk genres.

As news broke, social media sites exploded with the rumor of Yauch's passing, with many hoping that the news was yet another Internet death hoax.

"Someone please put a quick stop to these (hopefully) rumors about Adam Yauch please? :/," wrote one tweeter.

Sadly, it looks like this time, it's true.