Original Beastie Boy John Berry Has Died

One of the Beastie Boys original members, John Berry, has died at the age of 52. Though he was not a member of the group any longer when the Beastie Boys became big celebrities, Berry was the original guitarist of the band and the one who suggested the name of the group.

According to Berry’s father, John had suffered from frontal lobe dementia and his condition had worsened over the last several months.

Berry went to school with another integral member of the Beastie Boys, Mike Diamond, and they started the group when they were still teenagers in 1981.

He also played on the first seven-inch EP that the Beastie Boys recorded and released, which was called “Polly Wog Stew,” back in 1982. Berry is now the second original member to die young. Legendary Beastie Boy member Adam Yauch died of cancer in 2012 at the age of 47.