His group's iconic single, Fight for Your Right, might have just been Adam Yauch's swan song.

He died last May 4, 2012 fighting cancer of the salivary gland. He was 47.

Yauch was one-third of the hip-hop band, Beastie Boys. The group has sold more than 40 million records worldwide during a career that spans more than 20 years. Aside from Fight for Your Right, Yauch's group launched hit singles such as Intergalactic, So Whatcha Want, Ch-Check It Out, and Sabotage.

As an artist inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it is only befitting that Yauch's contemporaries and even younger artists pay tribute to him.

Madonna, who toured with the group during the 80s, said Yauch was very important to the music industry, as well was to her career. Madonna said she was sad about Yauch's death and that he was "integral to the musical revolution that was happening at the time."

Russel Simmons of Def Jam Records: Yauch was "incredibly sweet and the most sensitive artist, whom I loved dearly."

Thom Yorke, lead vocalist of Radiohead, wrote "We looked up to the Beastie Boys a lot when we were starting out and how they maintained artistic control making wicked records but still were on a major label, and the Tibetan Freedom Concerts they organized had a very big influence on me personally and the way Adam conducted himself and dealt with it all impressed me a lot. He was a mellow and [very] smart guy. May he rest in peace."

Actor Ben Stiller tweeted: Yauch "stood for integrity as an artist," while Joel Madden of band Good Charlotte described the Beastie Boys: "We wanted to dress like them, talk like them, and we wanted to make music like them."

Rapper Eminem said "Adam Yauch brought a lot of positivity into the world and I think it's obvious to anyone how big of an influence the Beastie Boys were on me and so many others."