I have seen many musicians come and go and never once have I actually cried when I’ve heard the news of their passing until I heard yesterday that Adam “MCA” Yauch of the Beastie Boys had died from the cancer he had been fighting for so long. Here are just a few of my initial memories:
The Beastie Boys are about ten years old than I am. So when they were rapping about high school parties, sneaking alcohol and girls on Licenced To Ill I was an impressionable grade schooler listening on his first Walkman. For this only child, they were my big brothers.
In 1989, while I was living in the Bay Area, my friends traveled from Texas to attend the first Tibetan Freedom Concert put on by the Beastie Boys and Yauch’s Milarepa Fund. I have many many memories from those two days.
Throughout my life the news of a new Beastie Boys album would bring an instant smile to my face. Their ability to include humor, social commentary and good music is unmatched.
Sadly his voice and creativity have been silenced but his spirit and influence live on.
A few of my favorite Beastie Boys songs:
