80s New York Rap Legend Breaks 14-Year Silence Over 'Sadness' of Bandmate's Death

80s New York Rap Legend Breaks 14-Year Silence Over 'Sadness' of Bandmate's Death For more than a decade, Mike D couldn't sit down and write a song. The Beastie Boys rapper opened up to The Guardian about the grief that swallowed his creative life after bandmate Adam Yauch died of cancer in 2012, describing how even the act of opening his laptop became painful, saying he'd open a computer file, and he'd just feel sadness.

The loss ended the Beastie Boys for good. The trio, who'd been friends since childhood in New York and rose to fame with 1986's Licensed to Ill before reinventing themselves on the sample-heavy Paul's Boutique , disbanded rather than continue without Yauch. Mike D spent the years afterward producing records for other artists, including Soft Play and the Hives, while quietly stepping back from making music of his own.