Talk about your ill communication.
In a video posted on their official Website, Beastie Boys members Adam Yauch and Adam Horovitz, otherwise known as MCA and Ad Rock, delivered some bad news to fans—the Beasties will have to cancel their upcoming summer tour and postpone the launch date for their new album after Yauch was diagnosed with cancer.
"About two months ago, I started feeling this little lump in my throat that you would feel if you had like swollen glands or something like that or you'd feel if you had a cold, so I really didn't think it was anything," said the rapper, seated in a recording studio. "But then just recently when we were over in Europe doing promotion...I called my doctor and saw him when I got back, and this was about two weeks ago, and he sent me to a specialist, and they did tests, and I actually have a form of cancer in the gland."
Good thing he checked his head.
Yauch announced the cancerous tumor was found in his parotid gland on the left side of his neck by his lymph nodes and is treatable. He's scheduled to have surgery sometime next week and will follow that up with localized radiation therapy.
"The good news is they did scans of my whole body and it's only localized in this one area. And it's not in a place that affects my voice. So that's nice," added the musician.
He continued: "It's a little bit of a setback and a pain in the ass, but it's something that's very treatable. In most cases, they're able to get rid of it and people don't have continuing problems with it, and they've caught it early and it's not anywhere else in my body...So I apologize to everybody for anyone who's made plans or were psyched to come to these shows that's coming up."
As a result of the recovery time needed once Yauch has the operation, the Beastie Boys will have to scuttle a number of headlining festival appearances, most notably All Points West in the New York Area, Chicago's Lollapalooza and San Francisco's Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival.
Additionally, their new LP, Hot Sauce Committee Part 1, due out in September, will now be pushed back. No word yet when it will drop.
On a lighter note, Horovitz joked in the three-minute homemade video about his scrappy unshaven appearance.
"For the record, Adam didn't tell me why I was coming down here. I was on the couch watching TV, so this is a fake beard and look."
Yauch then joked that the look was for Ad Rock's other band and the break will give him some time to plug his country music project.
It's good to see the Boys haven't lost their sense of humor.
UPDATE: With the Beasties sidelined, organizers have announced that Jay-Z will sub as the first-night headliner of the All Points West Music & Arts Festival July 31 at New Jersey's Liberty State Park. The gig will be Hova's first U.S. festival appearance.
------------------
As we keep Adam in our thoughts, check out Mark Malkin's exclusive about Jennifer Aniston standing up to cancer on Twitter.