Sad, startling news: Rapper Adam Yauch from the Beastie Boys has passed away, according to TMZ and Global Grind. Better known to Beastie fans by the name MCA, Yauch also founded the film company Oscilloscope, which distributed independent films like The Messenger and Wendy and Lucy. Yauch battled cancer back in 2009, though it’s not yet known if that contributed to his cause of death. Yauch was only 47 years old.Â
For more on his pioneering work with the Beastie Boys, read New York’s recent oral history of the band’s beginning.
Vulture also ran some anecdotes from that oral history that didn’t make the magazine.
In 2008, New York covered Yauch’s film work with Oscilloscope.
Relive the Beasties’ performance on The Arsenio Hall Show.
Watch the Beastie Boys’ star-studded recent video for “Fight For Your Right Revisited.â€
And here’s a 1994 article from the magazine on the band.