THE BEASTIE BOYS' Adam "MCA" Yauch Dies at 47

The Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch (center)

ADAM YAUCH

August 5, 1964 - May 4, 2012

It is with great sadness that we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam “MCA” Yauch, founding member of Beastie Boys and also of the Milarepa Foundation that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits, and film production and distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories, passed away in his native New York City this morning after a near-three-year battle with cancer. He was 47 years old.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Yauch taught himself to play bass in high school, forming a band for his 17th birthday party that would later become known the world over as Beastie Boys.

With fellow members Michael “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Adrock” Horovitz, Beastie Boys would go on to sell over 40 million records, release four #1 albums–including the first hip hop album ever to top the Billboard 200, the band’s 1986 debut full length, Licensed To Ill–win three Grammys, and the MTV Video Vanguard Lifetime Achievement award. Last month Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with Diamond and Horovitz reading an acceptance speech on behalf of Yauch, who was unable to attend.

In addition to his hand in creating such historic Beastie Boys albums as Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty and more, Yauch was a founder of the Milarepa Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness and activism regarding the injustices perpetrated on native Tibetans by Chinese occupational government and military forces. In 1996, Milarepa produced the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, which was attended by 100,000 people, making it the biggest benefit concert on U.S. soil since 1985’s Live Aid. The Tibetan Freedom Concert series would continue to stage some of the most significant benefit shows in the world for nearly a decade following in New York City, Washington DC, Tokyo, Sydney, Amsterdam, Taipei and other cities.

In the wake of September 11, 2001, Milarepa organized New Yorkers Against Violence, a benefit headlined by Beastie Boys at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom, with net 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–each chosen for their efforts on behalf of 9/11 victims least likely to receive help from other sources.

Under the alias of Nathanial Hörnblowér, Yauch directed iconic Beastie Boys videos including ”So Whatcha Want,” ”Intergalactic,” “Body Movin” and “Ch-Check It Out.” Under his own name, Yauch directed last year’s Fight For Your Right Revisited, an extended video for “Make Some Noise” from Beastie Boys’ Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, starring Elijah Wood, Danny McBride and Seth Rogen as the 1986 Beastie Boys, making their way through a half hour of cameo-studded misadventures before squaring off against Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as Beastie Boys of the future.

Yauch’s passion and talent for filmmaking led to his founding of Oscilloscope Laboratories, which in 2008 released his directorial film debut, the basketball documentary Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot and has since become a major force in independent video distribution, amassing a catalogue of such acclaimed titles as Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy, Oren Moverman’s The Messenger, Banksy’s Exit Through The Gift Shop, Lance Bangs and Spike Jonze’s Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait Of Maurice Sendak, and many more.

Yauch is survived by his wife Dechen and his daughter Tenzin Losel, as well as his parents Frances and Noel Yauch.

MICHAEL JACKSON-1958-2009

Michael Jackson,

the performer often referred to as "The King Of Pop" and one of the most successful musical artists in history, has died at the age of 50.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — Michael Jackson, the onetime “King of Pop” who in later years was acquitted of child molestation and plagued by financial woes, died Thursday, according to the Los Angeles coroner’s office. Jackson was 50.
Jackson, under cardiac arrest, was taken by paramedics to UCLA Medical Center under cardiac arrest where he was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. (5:26 EST), said Lt. Fred Corral of the coroner’s office.
Corral said an autopsy will be performed Friday to determine a cause of death. Results are expected Friday afternoon.
Brian Oxman, spokesman for the Jackson family, told CNN that three Jackson siblings — Randy, Jermaine and La Toya — were at the hospital. He said Jackson’s father, Joe Jackson, was on his way from Las Vegas.
“Everyone is rather speechless,” Oxman said. “I cried with them and I am just stunned. The atmosphere here is so very sad.”
At the medical center, every entrance to the emergency room was blocked by security guards. Even hospital staffers were not permitted to enter. A few people stood inside the waiting area, some of them crying.
Some of Jackson’s music was being played, said Oxman. The sounds of “Thriller” and “Beat It” bounced off the walls.
“It is one of the most unbelievable, surreal scenes I have ever experienced,” Oxman said. A large crowd was gathering outside the hospital, according to video footage.
Producer Quincy Jones, who helped Michael Jackson craft such hit albums as “Off the Wall” and “Thriller,” said, “I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news.”
“For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don’t have the words,” Jones added in a statement.
Jones said Jackson’s music continues to be heard throughout the world “because he had it all — talent, grace, professionalism and dedication.” He called Jackson the consummate entertainer whose legacy will be felt around the world.
“I’ve lost my little brother today and part of my soul has gone with him,” Jones said.
Jackson’s former wife, Lisa Marie Presley, said she was “shocked and saddened” by Jackson’s death. “My heart goes out to his children and his family,” she said.
Outside of Jackson’s Bel Air home, police arrived on motorcycles. The road in front of the home was closed in an attempt to hold traffic back, but several people were gathered outside the home.

MICHAEL JACKSON:

August 29,1958-June 25, 2009