RIP Beastie Boy Adam Yauch

The tributes are rolling in for Adam "MCA" Yauch of the Beastie Boys, who died at 47 after a three-year fight with cancer.

• Mary Elizabeth Williams, Salon: For Gen-Xers, Kurt Cobain's death "represented the darkness of rock 'n' roll," but years later, Yauch's "is something else. It's random and cruel. It's the banal awfulness of disease." As for Yauch himself, the vegan, crusader for Tibet, and practicing Buddhist: "He changed and grew but somehow always stayed true to his badass heart." Read the full column.

• Gil Kaufman, MTV: "With his gravelly voice and laconic rapping style, Yauch stood out in the trio, whose other members tended to have faster, more nasal flows." And "though all three Boys emerged on the national scene with snotty, party hardy attitudes, it was Yauch who grew into the most centered and serious member of the group." Read the full story.
• Chris Richards, Washington Post: Yauch "quietly began introducing Tibetan Buddhist ideas to the trio’s lyrical volleyball matches," and that he did so "without sounding ponderous or self-important was testament to his affable charm and his skill as an MC." It also helped make the Boys "one of most widely-respected groups of their day." Read the full piece.
• The Huffington Post rounds up some classic Beastie Boys videos here.
• The group's website has Yauch's obituary here.

(More Adam Yauch stories.)