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Love & Respect to the End: Santigold, Danny Brown, and More Remember MCA

In mid-April 2012, the Beastie Boys announced one-third of the group — gravel-voiced Adam “MCA” Yauch — would be unable to join them at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where they were being honored for their 26-year recording career. On May 4, Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz and Michael “Mike D” Diamond confirmed fans’ worst fears: Yauch, 47, had succumbed to the salivary gland cancer he’d been battling since 2009.

In the year since Yauch’s death, his impact on the worlds of hip-hop, punk, art, film, and humanitarianism haven’t faded — they’ve come into clearer focus. We asked peers, collaborators, and admirers to reflect on his life and career as we celebrate a true pioneer’s remarkable legacy.

As told to Charles Aaron, Caryn Ganz, David Marchese, and Jordan Sargent