Photo taken this morning outside of 171 Avenue A, via Dens
When news broke yesterday that Beastie Boy Adam "MCA" Yauch had died of cancer at the age of 47 the Internet pretty much shut down. Yauch tributes dominated Twitter and everyone mourned by watching and listening to The Beastie Boys.
The group's music was everywhere last night: bars, bodegas, even at the NBA playoffs. The Mets went and ditched their usual walk-up music in favor of Beastie Boys tunes (here's the "setlist"). The Boys were on tap at concerts and, of course, at house parties. Mini-memorials, like the one above at 171A, popped up around town. There were out-of-left field musical tributes (ahem, Coldplay) and heartfelt notes sent into the ether (Kid Rock, Questlove). Even politicians like Brooklyn's Marty Markowitz got in on the game, sending his thoughts and prayers to Yauch's wife and daughter.
And in a particularly moving tribute penned by someone who grew up with Yauch, The New Yorker's Sasha Frere-Jones pretty well summed up the feelings of many when he wrote that,
this is the Yauch people remember: a man who could say he was sorry and not feel lessened by it; a man living within the principles of Buddhism and committed to broadening awareness of the political situation in Tibet; and a genuinely quiet person who had become more likely to make a joke at his own expense than anyone else’s. Yauch’s is one of the voices that can signify hip-hop within three syllables—rough, low, and strained. He got a lot done with that voice.
Yauch's mother, Frances, told the NY Times, “He was a very courageous person. He fought a long battle with cancer. He was hopeful to the very end.” She explained that "he had been undergoing chemotherapy this spring, but his health deteriorated rapidly over the last two weeks. 'It all just seemed to happen overnight. He was a terrific guy and had a brief but really wonderful life. We are really proud of him.'”
Yauch died at 9 a.m. yesterday at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, with his parents, in-laws, wife (Dechen Wangdu), and 13-year-old daughter (Tenzin Losel Yauch—click and your heart will break), by his side.
