Adam Yauch\'s Will Protects His Artistic Integrity

By JAMES C. MCKINLEY JR.

Even in death, Adam Yauch is a musician for whom principles matter.  The Beastie Boys member known as MCA, who died three months ago after a battle with cancer, made it clear in his will that he does not want his image, name, music “or any artistic property” used in advertising, the Associated Press reported.   That was his stance during his life as well; he once rapped that he would not “sell my songs for no TV ad.”  The will, filed in Manhattan court this week, will leaves a roughly $6 million estate to his widow and teen-age daughter.

Mr. Yauch, who was a practicing Buddhist, started out as a tongue-in-cheek prankster, a scratchy voiced punk rocker who adopted rap as a form, but as the Beastie Boys became superstars and helped hip-hop enter the mainstream, he became a socially conscious artist, who, among other things, was a champion of independence for Tibet.   He died in New York City of cancer of the salivary gland on May 4 at age 47.