Illness and Death
In 2009, Yauch was diagnosed and treated for a cancerous parotid gland and a lymph node, underwent surgery and radiation therapy, delaying the release of Hot Sauce Committee Part Two and the subsequent tour. He was unable to appear in music videos for the album. Yauch became a vegan under the recommendation of his Tibetan doctors. At the time, Yauch described the cancer as "very treatable".
Yauch died at age 47 on May 4, 2012, after a three-year battle with salivary gland cancer. Upon his death, Russell Simmons of Def Jam Records said that Yauch "was incredibly sweet and the most sensitive artist, who I loved dearly." Ben Stiller tweeted that Yauch "stood for integrity as an artist."
Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam said that Yauch was "a crazy talent whose contributions with his band were inspirational and consistently ground breaking". Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke wrote, "We looked up to the Beastie Boys a lot when we were starting out and how they maintained artistic control making wicked records but still were on a major label, and the Tibetan Freedom Concerts they organized had a very big influence on me personally and the way Adam conducted himself and dealt with it all impressed me a lot. He was a mellow and smart guy. May he rest in peace." Eminem said in an interview, "Adam Yauch brought a lot of positivity into the world and I think it's obvious to anyone how big of an influence the Beastie Boys were on me and so many others." Billy Talent dedicated the song 'Line And Sinker' to him during their televised time slot at Reading festival in 2012. Linkin Park inserted a verse of the Beastie Boys' 'Sabotage' into the bridge of 'Bleed It Out' while touring during Summer 2012 in tribute to Yauch.
Beastie Boys rapper Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz posted a note on the band's Tumblr page about the death of Yauch. He wrote, "As you can imagine, shit is just fkd up right now. But I wanna say thank you to all our friends and family (which are kinda one in the same) for all the love and support. I'm glad to know that all the love that Yauch has put out into the world is coming right back at him."
In his last will he left instructions that his music couldn’t be used in advertising, though some legal experts said that could not be valid.
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