Rockers Coldplay and Red Hot Chili Peppers remember late Beastie Boy at weekend shows
Adam “MCA” Yauch, founding member of hip-hop trio Beastie Boys, passed away Friday (May 4), and support is pouring out to Yauch’s family and friends from the music community. During a Friday night concert at the Hollywood Bowl, Coldplay offered up their musical tribute to Yauch, who passed away of cancer at the age of 47. Lead singer Chris Martin sang a piano version of the Beastie Boys’ seminal chart-topper, “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party),” inserting the extra line, “And so we’re sending all our love to the Beastie Boys” at the end of the song. As different as Coldplay and Beastie Boys sound, Martin surprisingly made the Beastie classic play like a Coldplay track.
For the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Yauch’s death carries a special meaning, since the Peppers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month along with the Beastie Boys. The Peppers paid tribute to their late buddy at their Friday concert in Newark, N.J. Billboard reported that Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Keidis entered the stage wearing an “MCA” tee and stated to the crowd, “We lost a good man today. He left the world a lot of beauty. I hope you carry that flame. Adam was for real.”
During their concert, the Red Hot Chili Peppers played instrumental versions of two classic Beastie Boys tracks: 1992’s “Gratitude” and “What’cha Want,” both from 1992’s “Check Your Head.” After the Peppers left the stage following the show, “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right” started blasting out from the PA system, and the crowd chanted along.
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