Original Beastie Boys Member John Berry Dead at 52

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According to Rolling Stone Magazine, John Berry, an original member of hip-hop group the Beastie Boys, died Thursday morning at 7:30 a.m. at a hospice in Danvers, Massachusetts. He was 52.

Berry is credited with coming up with the name Beastie Boys when they were teenagers. Berry played on the Beastie Boys’ first seven-inch EP Polly Wog Stew, which was recorded at 171A studios in November 1982. He left the group shortly after.

The Beastie Boys did not neglect Berry’s role in the band. When they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012,Horovitz read a speech by Adam Yauch, who died later that year at age 47 of cancer.