Beastie Boys inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Why it matters

April 14, 2012. At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in Cleveland, the Beastie Boys were inducted. Adam Yauch (MCA), the group's bass player and co-founder, was too sick to attend; he was deep into his cancer treatment. Mike D and Ad-Rock accepted the induction and read a statement Yauch had written from his hospital bed. This is the part of the night that broke the room. The Beasties had been three teenage punk kids when they formed in 1981. They had spent thirty-one years together, four-million-selling albums together (Licensed to Ill, Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty), turned themselves from frat-rap punchlines into one of the most consistently inventive groups in popular music. They were standing on the stage as the second hip-hop group ever inducted into the Hall of Fame and the one of them who had done as much as anybody to make them what they became was not standing with them. Yauch died twenty-one days later. You should watch the speech. The two Beasties left up there know what is happening. They are still gracious. They are heartbroken. Both at once.