Yesterday, we were more or less devastated by the news of Beastie Boy Adam Yauch’s death at 47. A nearly universally-loved figure across ages and tastes, he was not only part of a game-changing (and flippin’ awesome) band, but was incredibly active in the Free Tibet movement and founded film production company Oscilloscope Laboratories. At Flavorpill HQ, we not only spent the day listening to some of our favorite MCA songs, but trading emails about our memories of Yauch and the Beastie Boys and the way they’ve impacted our lives. We’ve collected some of our initial reactions and remembrances here — click through to read a few, and then add your own in the comments.
“Holy shit. That’s horrible.” — Tom Hawking, Contributing Editor
“I sat next to him once at Radio City Music Hall. Couldn’t get up the courage to say hi. I really wish I did though. A legend, an inspiration, and way too young for this.” — Doug Levy, Senior Editor
“Talking about this with friends on Facebook — License to Ill was a game-changing record in a way that i think a lot of much younger kids today are never really going to understand… Three white dudes? Rapping? What the hell is this… Ok I’m getting sad again.” — Russ Marshalek, Social Media Director
“They were my first favorite band. I bought one of their ringer tees at a flea market in south Florida with bar mitzvah money.” — Jason Diamond, Flavorpill NYC Deputy Editor
“Over the course of a week a long time ago, I played License to Ill over and over until I had memorized the lyrics to “Paul Revere” — because I was convinced that knowing the entire rap would somehow make me automatically cool. That didn’t happen, but I still know all the words. And love that album like almost no other.” — Leah Taylor, Flavorpill NYC Managing Editor
“It’s very cool that he went on to create Oscilloscope, which has released some of the most important independent films in the past few years. What a positive influence on American culture, will be missed.” — Patrick Letterii, Venue Partnership Manager
“I’m late hearing this, I want to cry. In high school… me and my two best friends called ourselves the Beastie Girls. Ill Communications was the first concert I got floated at. Sigh.” — Jill Knight, Accountant
“Jill, I just had a little cry in the back room here at work. Does anyone else associate like… every other word with one of their songs? Like the past few weeks, every time I see the word “Girls” (which is a lot more than usual lately) the song “Girls” will get stuck in my head. This happens for a lot of words. I have a lot of Beastie Boys songs stuck in my head.” — Soma Roy, Editorial Intern
“Hello Nasty was the only record we could all agree on at my high school job. It was pretty amazing, it united an age gamut of 50+ to 16.” — Russ Marshalek, Social Media Director
“I had the pleasure of meeting him several years ago. He was incredibly friendly and had just a great presence about him. I’m grateful that our paths crossed while he was here. He certainly made an impact in his lifetime, which should serve as an inspiration to all of us.” — Paul Salfen, Flavorpill Dallas Managing Editor
“My name is MCA / I’ve got a license to kill / I think you know what time it is / It’s time to get ill”