A small park in Brooklyn has been dedicated to the memory of late Beastie Boy Adam "MCA" Yauch.

Rolling Stone reports that the late hip-hop star's family, friends and bandmate Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz attended a ceremony on Friday (May 4) to rename Palmetto Playground, which is located blocks from Yauch's childhood home, in his honour.

Speakers included Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Horovitz and Yauch's mother, Frances.

"It's fitting that we're here today to dedicate a playground to Adam Yauch because like the Wu-Tang Clan, Beastie Boys is for the children," Horovitz said in his remarks. "I was trying to think of what to say today, and I was thinking what it means to be a New York kid: People come to New York to be themselves, to express themselves and to be who they want to be."

Yauch's mother recalled that she and his father Noel played classical music during his childhood.

"The whole idea was we were going to introduce him to music and make him love it all his life," she said. "Well, we succeeded. He loved music all his life, but he did it on his own terms... Adam made us so proud of him – proud of his achievements, proud of our beautiful daughter-in-law and our beautiful grandchild. And now proud to have this park in his name."

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The Beastie Boys are seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit that alleges they sampled copyrighted music without getting permission in order to compose the 1986 album License to Ill and the 1989 album Paul's Boutique.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, record label TufAmerica filed the copyright infringement suit the day before member Adam Yauch (a.k.a. MCA) died of cancer last May, which led to a delay in response.

On Monday (November 26), lawyers for the surviving members countered that the complaint should be dismissed becasue the plaintiffs can't establish similarities between the original recocrdings and the resulting albums. Additionally, they argue that even if the label could substantiate the accusations, the court must limit liability because the albums were recorded more than two decades ago.

"What precipitated Plaintiff to bring this action two decades after the release of the songs in question, and the day before the passing of defendant Adam Yauch, is not explained," the group's attorneys said in a statement. "Plaintiff is attempting to sidestep the Copyright Act's three-year statute of limitations and the defenses of laches and estoppel in light of its decades-long delay in taking any action."

TufAmerica alleges that the Beastie Boys sampled the songs "Say What" and "Drop the Bomb" by the group Trouble Funk in such a way that the "casual listener" would not be able to tell the source.

The band counters that reasoning is grounds enough for dismissal. "Because Plaintiff admits that the casual observer cannot identify Plaintiff's musical compositions and sound recordings," their lawyers stated, "there can be no substantial similarity."

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Beastie Boys member Adam Horowitz (a.k.a. Ad-Rock) will perform a solo show in Los Angeles.

KROQ reports (via The Daily Swarm) that the show is entitled "Ad-Rock Presents And Performs With His Friends & NYC Sensation Bridget Everett" and will take place on December 2 at Los Angeles club Largo at Coronet. It is billed as "a great night of music and comedy on Largo's intimate stage."

Everett is a comedian that also performs hilariously raunchy tunes with the band Tender Moments. The group's songs include "At Least It's Pink" and "Boob Song." 

The show will be Horowitz's (pictured, above left) second major public appearance and first solo show since his bandmate Adam Yauch (a.k.a. MCA) succumbed to throat cancer in May of this year at age 47. In June, he DJed a benefit concert in Brooklyn for the jailed members of Russian rock group Pussy Riot.

The Beastie Boys stopped performing live when Yauch was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2009.

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Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch has blocked the use of the trap group's music for advertising purposes after his death, according to his will.

Yauch (a.k.a. MCA), who died in May at age 47, included a handwritten stipulation in the document which was filed in Manhattan Surrogate court on Tuesday (August 7) and obtained by Rolling Stone.

"Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, in no event may my image or name or any music or any artistic property created by me be used for advertising purposes," the will states.  The phrase "or any music or any artistic property created by me" was added in handwriting.

Yauch left his US $6.4 million estate to his wife Dechen and their daughter, Tenzin Losel.

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Residents in Brooklyn, New York are campaigning to have a park renamed after late Beastie Boys rapper Adam Yauch (a.k.a. MCA).

A Facebook page has been set up to urge local officials to rename Squibb Park in Brooklyn Heights, New York in Yauch's honour. According to the posting, the park is undergoing renovations to become a skateboarding park and gateway to Brooklyn Bridge Park.

"The Brooklyn Heights Blog community believes that it would be a fitting tribute to name it after Brooklyn Heights native, musician, humanitarian Adam Yauch (MCA) of the Beastie Boys," the posting reads.

That park is directly across the street from another park, the Harry Chapin Playground, named after the late folk rocker, who also lived in the area.

The Beastie Boys have a long history with the skate community. Their music videos, such as Time For Livin', sometimes featured skate footage.

Yauch died at age 47 on May 4 after a battle with cancer.

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

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Portland, Oregon-based flimmaker James Winters has paid homage to late Beastie Boy Adam Yauch (a.k.a. MCA) by re-creating the rap trio's classic 1994 music video "Sabotage" starring children.

The original chaotic 1970s crime show-inspired clip was directed by Spike Jonze and featured the Beastie Boys sporting an array of wigs and guises. This newer version, however, is a little less violent and more family friendly. Watch it here and revisit the original "Sabotage" video here.

(via Pitchfork)

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Six Beastie Boys albums have returned to the Billboard 200 chart following the death of member Adam Yauch (a.k.a. MCA) on May 4.

According to Billboard, the band's 1986 album Licensed to Ill re-entered the chart at number 18 with 19,000 copies sold. The album made history in 1987 when it became the first rap record to top the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Collectively, the trio's albums sold 55,000 in the two days after Yauch died or a 1,235 per cent increase in sales over the previous week. In terms of downloads, the group sold 151,000 digital songs or a gain of 949 per cent.

Other albums to return to the chart are Solid Gold Hits, Paul's Boutique, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, Ill Communication, Check Your Head and Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds of Science.

However, the sales boost could be even bigger next week after a full week of sales passes since Yauch's death.

The rapper passed away last week after a three-year battle with cancer. He was 47.

Adam Yauch, one-third of the hip-hop group the Beastie Boys, has died at the age of 47, Rolling Stone reports.

Russell Simmons' website GlobalGrind.com first reported the death.

Yauch - also known as MCA - had been in treatment for cancer since 2009. He was diagnosed that year after a tumour was discovered in his salivary gland. At the moment it's unclear if the death is related to the rapper's battle with cancer.

Yauch co-founded the Beastie Boys with Mike "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horowitz in 1979. The band started off as a hardcore punk group, but soon began experimenting with hip-hop. The band broke big with their first proper album, "Licensed to Ill," in 1986.

The group has won multiple Grammys and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year.