License to Ill that came out in 1987 is one the greatest rap albums ever. It saddens me that one of my Hip Hip Icons, Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys is dead at 47. He died losing a battle with cancer.

NEW YORK (AP) — Adam Yauch, the gravelly voiced rapper who made the Beastie Boys one of the seminal groups in hip-hop, has died. He was 47.

Yauch, also known as MCA, died Friday morning in New York after a nearly three-year battle with cancer, his representatives confirmed Friday. He had been diagnosed with a cancerous salivary gland in 2009.

At the time, Yauch expressed hope that it was “very treatable,” but his illness forced the group to cancel shows and delayed the release of their 2011 album, “Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2.”

He hadn’t performed in public since 2009 and was absent when the Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month.

Yauch was an integral, founding member to the ever-weaving trio: three Jewish kids from New York who found widespread respect in a hip-hop world with few credible white performers.

[…]

“The group’s music crossed genres and color lines, and helped bring rap to a wider audience,” said Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy. “Yauch was an immense talent and creative visionary.”

This is just sad.