Madonna tribute to Beastie Boy (From Wandsworth Guardian)

Madonna tribute to Beastie Boy

7:17pm Saturday 5th May 2012 in Entertainment News © Press Association 2013

Madonna has paid tribute to Adam Yauch, the Beastie Boys rapper who died on Friday, saying he was one of a kind and that the group was important to her musical history.

The singer said the seminal hip-hop group was "integral to the musical revolution that was happening at the time".

Yauch's representatives confirmed that the rapper, also known as MCA, died on Friday morning in New York after a nearly three-year battle with cancer.

Madonna says she was sad to hear of Yauch's death and asked God to bless his family.

The Beastie Boys opened for Madonna on tour in the 1980s, and the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month.