Beastie Boys Tributes: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead & More Honor Adam Yauch

Becky Bain | May 7, 2012 10:49 am

The death of Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch, who passed away on Friday after a long battle with cancer, has caused practically everyone in entertainment to come out and pay their respects to the rapper, songwriter and filmmaker. Coldplay and fun. honored MCA by covering some of Beastie Boys’ classic songs live in concert, while Madonna and Mike D and Ad-Rock penned touching blog entries sharing their memories of Yauch. And the tributes have yet to slow down — head below for more examples of how loved Yauch and the Beastie Boys are by pretty much everyone.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers played an instrumental version of “So What’Cha Want” before launching into a cover of “Gratitude” during a concert in New Jersey on Saturday (May 5). “We lost a good man today,” frontman Anthony Kiedis told the crowd. “He left the world a lot of beauty. I hope you carry that flame. Adam was for real.”

Diplo spun “Intergalactic” at Mike D’s Transmission LA: AV Club exhibit at MOCA in Los Angeles on May 5.

Train covered “Fight For Your Right” during a show at Birmingham’s O2 Academy in the U.K.

The RootsQuestlove wrote a lengthy tribute to Yauch and the Beastie Boys, while Sonic Youth‘s Kim Gordon shared some fond memories of spending time with Yauch in Tokyo. New York magazine’s Vulture blog checked in with a variety of different entertainers — Santigold, Kurt Loder, David Cross, Billy Corgan, and many more — all discussing Yauch and the Beastie Boys’ influence on their lives.

Radiohead‘s Thom Yorke penned a brief but touching blog post saying kind words of Yauch and his band: “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 v smart guy. May he rest in peace.”

Head here for more tributes and memories of Adam Yauch.