In a homemade video that was placed on the band’s website, Adam Yauch, of the Beastie Boys, announced today that he has cancer.

As he explained in the video, Yauch said he could feel a small lump in his throat and that doctors had recently found cancer in his parotid gland and in a lymph node.

He then said that the cancer is treatable and that it will not affect his voice. He is going to have surgery next week to remove the tumor and will need several weeks of treatment, following that. As a result, the band is going to cancel some of their  future shows and they will probably delay the release of their new album, which was due out on September 15 of this year.

The video is available for viewing here: http://beastieboys.com/

The Beastie Boys, originally a hardcore punk group, initiated in 1979.  They switched to hip hop with the release of their single, Cooky Puss, which was followed by their successful debut album, Licensed to Ill.

It's reported that, “The group is well-known for its eclecticism, jocular and flippant attitude toward interviews and interviewers, obscure cultural references and kitschy lyrics, and for performing in outlandish matching suits.”