I think everyone was caught a little on the hop by this. While it was known that he had cancer for many years, he described it himself as ‘very treatable’ and I presumed the Beastie Boys would be back on tour in a year or two. Sadly, this is not the case, and while the other two may continue, it’ll never be the same.

Like a lot of people of my generation, I grew up with the Beasties. They were young and stupid, when I was similar, and I loved the wild abandon of their early work, before losing touch with them for a few years. It was a shock to the system when I heard ‘Check your head’, as it was a better album than I thought they were capable of producing, a mixture of hard core, rap, funky grooves, with the same sense of fun and invention! They continued on albums of similar quality for Ill Communication and Hello Nasty, before going off the boil a little, but three classic albums is more than most will ever achieve.

I saw them live on the ‘Check your head’ tour in the Tivoli in Dublin, which was the perfect sized venue to see them. It was two days before a technical drawing exam I had, and I had a huge sense of guilt going to it, as I should be at home, trying furiously to learn drawing techniques that I had ignored all year. The gig itself was the stuff of legends, and still one of my favorite gigs, some 19 years later (God, is it really that long!).

Wherever he is, i hope the candle light is just right, the hi-fi is in the back ground, and the wine is delicious…

‘I’ve got more rhymes than I’ve got grey hairs, and that’s a lot because I’ve got my share’

‘I’ve been coming to where I am, from the get go, Find that I can groove with the beat when I let go’

‘Your knees start shakin and your fingers pop like a pinch to the neck from Mr Spockl’