Adam Yauch

As a founding member of the hip hop group the Beastie Boys, Adam Yauch (born in New York in 1964) helped popularise rap around the world. Yauch adopted the stage name MCA and, along with his bandmates, sold over 40 million records. He went on to work as a film director and human rights activist, campaigning regularly for the Tibetan independence movement. He died from cancer on 4 May 2012.