NEW YORK (AP) — Adam Yauch, the gravelly voiced Beastie Boys rapper who co-founded the seminal hip-hop group, has died at age 47.

Yauch’s representatives confirmed that the rapper died Friday morning in New York after a nearly three-year battle with cancer.

Also known as MCA, Yauch was diagnosed with a cancerous salivary gland in 2009. He had undergone surgery and radiation.

At the time, Yauch expressed hope it was “very treatable,” but his illness caused the group to cancel shows and delayed the release of its 2011 album, “Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2.”

The Brooklyn-born Yauch created the Beastie Boys with high school friend Michael “Mike D” Diamond. Originally conceived as a hardcore punk group, it became a hip-hop trio after Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz joined.

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