Remembering Adam Yauch: Live Tributes To The Beastie Boys’ MCA

Born and bred in Brooklyn the U.S.A.

They call me Adam Yauch but I’m MCA

– Beastie Boys “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”

Today sadly marks four years since the untimely death of Adam “MCA” Yauch who along with Michael “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz rose to fame as members of the seminal hip-hop group Beastie Boys in the early 1980s. The trio went on to become one of the most popular acts both within and beyond the realm of the genre they helped define. The wildly successful rap, funk and hip-hop group broke-up following Yauch’s tragic death at age 47 after a battle with cancer.

In the weeks and months following MCA’s passing, many of his fellow musicians took time during their concerts to pay tribute to the influential MC. Below are five examples from 2012 of live covers of Beastie Boys songs played in Adam’s honor.

Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe and members of Slightly Stoopid teamed up for several Beastie Boys tribute concerts before and after MCA’s untimely death. Here’s a performance of “Sabotage” from May 5, 2012 at Tipitina’s in New Orleans:

Red Hot Chili Peppers dedicated their concert at Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey on May 4 2012 to MCA. Frontman Anthony Kiedis took time to address the audience and speak about Yauch. Later in the show the band jammed on the Beastie Boys’ “So What’cha Want” which was captured in the video shared by lazyspark below:

Also on the night MCA passed, Coldplay worked a Beasties cover into their appearance at the Hollywood Bowl. The band later shared official footage of their slowed down, ballad-esque rendition of “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!),” check it out:

The Roots paid tribute to Yauch a number of times in 2012. The performance below from Mountain Jam VIII on June 1 also honored late Washington D.C. go-go music legend Chuck Brown. Here’s their go-go infused take on “Paul Revere”:

A few weeks later on July 7, Phish played a cover of “Sabotage” at SPAC in Saratoga Springs, New York. Guitarist Trey Anastasio dedicated the cover to MCA, which can be seen in the video below captured by Nevaklass, watch:

RIP MCA