The passing of Adam Yauch on May 4, 2012 has left a void in not only the hip hop world, but the entire music world.

Adam “MCA” Yauch was born on August 5, 1964 in Brooklyn, NY. He started The Beastie Boys for his 17th birthday, after teaching himself how to play bass, in 1979. The Beastie Boys were originally a hardcore punk band and included Yauch, Mike Diamond, Kate Schellenbach and Jon Berry.

It wasn’t until Yauch was 22 that The Beastie Boys became a hip hop trio. With Yauch, the other members included Michael “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Adrock” Horovitz. They found  minor success in 1983 with “Cooky Puss,” their first hip hop track, which was based on a prank call by the group to Carvel Ice Cream. It became a hit in the New York underground dance clubs and night clubs.

Because of the success of “Cooky Puss” the band transformed their act into a full fledged hip hop act. The added a DJ by the name of Rick Rubin, who also asked the Beastie Boys to join his new label Def Jam Recordings. They released their first 12” EP Rock Hard in 1985.

The 1986 debut of The Beastie Boys’ License To Ill became the best selling rap album of the 1980s, as well as, the first rap album to reach No.1 on the Billboard album chart – where it stayed for five weeks. The album reached No.2 on the Urban album charts, was Def Jam’s fastest selling debut record to date and sold over five million copies. The album’s  first single, “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)”, reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it’s video became an MTV staple.

During their career The Beastie Boys sold over 40 million records, won three Grammy Awards and received the MTV Video Vanguard Lifetime Achievement award. For the last 25 years you couldn’t escape their music from the airwaves or MTV.

Since Yauch was a Buddhist he spoke out for the Tibetan independence movement. He created a non-profit organization devoted to Tibetan independence called the Milarepa Fund, and organized benefit concerts to support this cause, which included the Tibetan Freedom Concert.

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Milarepa organized New Yorkers Against Violence. This benefit show was headlined by The Beastie Boys at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom, with proceeds disbursed to the New York Women’s Foundation Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Association for New Americans (NYANA) September 11th Fund for New Americans.

Yauch, under the alias of Nathanial Hörnblowér, also directed videos for The Beastie Boys. These videos included “So Whatcha Want,” “Intergalactic,” “Body Movin” and “Ch-Check It Out. He also directed last year’s Fight For Your Right Revisited, an extended video for “Make Some Noise” from Beastie Boys’ Hot Sauce Committee Part Two.

In 2008, he started the film studio Oscilloscope Laboratories, which released his directorial film debut, the basketball documentary Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot.

In 2009, after Yauch was diagnosed with cancer in his parotid (salivary) gland,the Beasties had to cancel their tour. To stay connected with their fans,, the band made great use of the Internet, which included streaming their last album, the Hot Sauce Committee pt. 2, for free on their website.

Following Yauch’s sudden death, many of his peers have paid tribute. Tributes have come from people like Eminem, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, LL Cool J, Mike D and Russell Simmons.

Image Source: Loudwire