Beastie Boys' Founding Member, John Berry Died, aged 52

John Berry was one of the founding members of the Beastie Boys. Although we came to know the Beastie Boys as a three-piece, Berry started with the group when they were a hardcore punk band and stayed with them until after their first EP, Polly Wog Stew. Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz replaced him on guitar afterwards. The group credits Berry with coming up with the name and mentioned him when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

Berry's father told Rolling Stone that Berry had died on Thursday, May 19th after struggling with frontal lobe dementia.

This follows the untimely and sad passing of Adam Yauch who died from cancer in 2012 at 47 years old.