Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys has passed away at the age of 47. GlobalGrind has confirmed this very sad news.

One of our heroes, Adam Yauch aka MCA of the Beastie Boys, passed away yesterday morning after a long bout with cancer.

UPDATE: Adam’s mother, France Yauch spoke this afternoon to the New York Times,

Mr. Yauch’s mother said he died at 9 a.m. on Friday at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan with his parents, his in-laws, his wife, Dechen Wangdu, and his 13-year-old daughter, Tenzin Losel Yauch, at his bedside. He had been admitted to the hospital on April 14 after a three-year battle with cancer of the salivary gland. He was conscious until the end. “He was a very courageous person,” his mother, Frances Yauch, said. “He fought a long battle with cancer. He was hopeful to the very end.” Mrs. Yauch said he had been undergoing chemotherapy this spring, but his health deteriorated rapidly over the last two weeks. “It all just seemed to happen overnight,” she said. She added: “He was a terrific guy and had a brief but really wonderful life. We are really proud of him.”

Yauch was a member of the groundbreaking, incredibly innovative and creative group, The Beastie Boys, with his two friends, Mike D and Ad-Roc, which changed our culture forever.

Yauch was born an only child in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Frances and Noel Yauch, a painter and architect. His father was Catholic and his mother was Jewish.

Throughout high school, he taught himself to play the bass guitar. The Beasties first show, then still a hardcore punk band, while still attending Edward R. Murrow High School in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Yauch attended Bard College for two years before dropping out. Two years later, at the age of 22, the Beastie Boys, now performing as a hip-hop trio, released their first album Licensed to Ill on Def Jam Records.

In 2009, Yauch was treated for a cancerous parotid gland and a lymph node and underwent surgery and radiation therapy. He later made a video announcement about his diagnosis.

He is survived by his wife and daughter. He was 47.

Our prayers go out to the family of Adam and the entire Beastie Boys crew.