Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys passes away

Adam and his daughter Tenzin © Polaris

Adam Yauch, one of the founding members of the hip-hop formation Beastie Boys, died Friday last week in New York. Sadly he lot his three-year battle with cancer. He was only 47 years old.

Just last month Adam, under his stage name MCA, and fellow bandmates Mike 'Mike D' Diamond and Adam ' Ad-Rock' Horovitz were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. However, he was too ill to join his bandmates for the ceremony.

Adam, born in Brooklyn, had taught himself to play bass guitar and formed the Beastie Boys, whilst still in high school. Their first album Licensed to III, launched in 1986, was a blockbuster due to the youth anthem "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)"

In 2009 he discovered a cancerous tumour in his left salivary gland. It was caught early and described as "very treatable."  Sadly, Adam Yauch has lost this battle.

Among the tributes were Justin Timberlake's tweet, "Crushed to hear the news of Adam Yauch's passing. A true pioneer of art" and Run DMC's Reverend Run's twitter message, "I'm devastated. Praying for Adam Yauch's family from the legendary Beastie Boys. You'll be missed!"

Adam is survived by his wife, Dechen Wangdu, and 14-year old daughter, Tenzin Losel Yauch.

Under The Covers

No one enjoys an inspired cover version of a song more than me (at least I don't think so). I collect covers of certain songs including Jobim's Águas de Março, Mack The Knife, & Beyond The Sea. This week in concert, Coldplay did a cover of The Beastie Boys' Fight For The Right To Party (the Beasties had to cancel their own tour due to Adam's illness). It seems like it wouldn't work, but Chris Martin took it to a minor key & came up with a very transporting version.