Red Hot Chili Peppers Show ‘Gratitude’ For Late Beastie Boy Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch [Video]

The tributes keep rolling in for Adam “MCA” Yauch. Friday night’s (May 4) Red Hot Chili Peppers concert at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., was dedicated by the band to the late, great Beastie Boy, who passed away earlier that day after a three-year battle with cancer — and, as reported by Billboard, honored him in the most poignant of ways.

Rocking a homemade MCA T-shirt, singer Anthony Kiedis put his microphone down as his bandmates launched into an instrumental version of ‘So What’cha Want’ off the 1992 B-Boys album, ‘Check Your Head.’ ”We’re playing this show tonight for Adam Yauch!” Kiedis told the sold-out crowd at one point. ”We lost a good man today,” he later added. “He left the world a lot of beauty. I hope you carry that flame. Adam was for real.”

The Peppers’ take on ‘So What’cha Want’ was a passionate and appropriately funky groove, but stripped of its lyrics the point was made: nobody can replace MCA and his bandmates, Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz and Mike “Mike D” Diamond. The crowd certainly got the point, cheering wildly when the tune was over.

And that wasn’t the only musical tribute RHCP made that night. Earlier in the evening, bassist Flea rocked a solo version of ‘Gratitude,’ showing his gratitude by transforming the ‘Check Your Head’ favorite into a scorching bass solo. “It’s been a sad day,” Flea said at the end of the show. “We want to offer our love and prayers to Adam.”
And with that, exiting fans were treated to the Beastie’s 1986 hit, ‘(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party),’ blasting over the P.A.

Openers Sleigh Bells got the tributes going, with singer Alexis Krauss paying her respects by dedicating her band’s set to the beloved rapper.

Both the Beastie Boys and the Chili Peppers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month, although Adam Yauch was unable to attend the ceremony due to his health concerns. Following his death, Yauch’s mom revealed that the rapper had been admitted into the hospital that very same day.

Watch the Chili Peppers Perform an Instrumental ‘So What’cha Want’