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.
