Adam 'MCA' Yauch: Remembering the Beastie Boys' legendary rapper, Tibetan activist and director
Anyone who's ever been acquainted with the music of Beastie Boys can't forget the man who started it all, Adam Yauch. On his birthday today (August 5), we want to honor the legendary founder of the Beastie Boys and take a look at his legacy and his final days. According to Rolling Stone, Yauch died at the age of 47 in 2012 after a near-three-year battle with cancer. Three days after his death, bandmate Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz posted a note on the Beastie Boys' Tumblr page about it, acknowledging the pain of losing Yauch and his admiration for him.
Starting out in 1979 as a group of mischievous misfits in their early days, the Beastie Boys created a unique style of rebellious-spirited music to challenge authority, which would pave the way for many artists who followed. Even after Yauch's death, the group found a way to keep holding onto their views. The Beastie Boys initially started in 1979 as a hardcore punk band but began experimenting with hip-hop. Their 1986 debut album 'Licensed to Ill' is where their career skyrocketed, which would see the band earning the biggest-selling rap album of the decade as well as their first to enter at No 1 on the Billboard chart.
While Yauch was a crucial member of the group and was actively engaged with the music, he was also heavily involved in activism and making the world a better place. Most notably, Yauch participated in the movement to free Tibet. He was a co-founder with activist Erin Potts of Milarepa Fund, the American non-profit organization that raises money and promotes awareness about the Tibetan independence movement. Yauch also met his wife, Tibetan activist Dechen Yauch, over their shared passion for activism, and even admitted to Rolling Stone that he was considering becoming a celibate monk before meeting her.
Additionally, in 1996, Yauch was instrumental in the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. The Beastie Boys along with 20 acts, including Rage Against the Machine, Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers and more, would perform to a crowd of 100,000 people, the largest US benefit concert since 1985’s Live Aid.
Yauch also supported victims of 9/11 who were least likely to receive help elsewhere with the benefit concert New Yorkers Against Violence.
Already the director of Beastie Boys' music videos, Yauch also launched the film production company Oscilloscope Laboratories in 2002 and began branching out into filmmaking. He directed the 2006 Beastie Boys concert film 'Awesome; I Fuckin’ Shot That!' and the 2008 basketball documentary 'Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot'. His production company released the acclaimed Banksy movie 'Exit Through the Gift Shop'.
Yauch's last few years would see the rapper and his group releasing 'Pt. 2' of the two-part album 'Hot Sauce Committee' in 2009. In June that year, they appeared at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and performed the single from the album titled 'Too Many Rappers' alongside rapper Nas who features on the track. That concert would be the last live performance by Beastie Boys as a trio.
Due to his illness, Yauch sat out the Beastie Boys’ induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2012 and his treatments delayed the release of 'Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 1'. Additionally, the Beastie Boys were also unable to appear in any music videos promoting 'Pt. 2'.
In Yauch's last will and testament, he left instructions that his music could not be used in advertising. His will prohibits the licensing of advertising for anyone who uses Yauch's image, music and art in their sales. Yauch instructed his estate to keep his works and even his face, out of any future advertisements while his will also states that his fortune and the estate should be left for his wife and daughter.
On April 24, 2020, Apple TV presented 'Beastie Boys Story', a Spike Jonze documentary about the group. The feature paid tribute to the Yauch and his legendary band by revealing an in-depth look at their work as well as the friendship between the three band members, Yauch, .Ad-Rock and Michael "Mike D" Diamond. Read a review on the documentary here.
Several artists have paid homage to the Beastie Boys since Yauch's passing such as rock group Phish who dedicated their cover of 'Sabotage' to Yauch during a July 7, 2012 concert at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. In 2013, ceremonies were held to rename the Palmetto Playground in Brooklyn Heights to Adam Yauch Park.