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John Berry, original Beastie Boys member, dead at 52

John Berry, one of the original members of the Beastie Boys, died Thursday morning, Rolling Stone reported. He was 52.

John Berry, an original member of the Beastie Boys, died Thursday morning, Rolling Stone reported. He was 52.

Berry, who had been suffering from frontal lobe dementia, was at a hospice in Danvers, Mass., his father, John Berry III told Rolling Stone.

Berry is credited with coming up with the group's name when the founding members were teens. The Beastie Boys formed as a hardcore punk band in July 1981 with Berry and Mike Diamond. They were joined by Adam Yauch, who died in 2012 of cancer, and Kate Schellenbach, who went on to play as the drummer for Luscious Jackson.

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In a 1998 interview with Spin, Berry said  the name came after the group decided, "we should have a gang, an Elks Lodge-type thing. We had secret handshakes and stuff, and we'd wear old-man clothes from the Salvation Army and smoke cigars. The thrust was to walk around and annoy people."

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The band's first shows were at Berry's loft  in Manhattan's Upper West Side, Rolling Stone reported.

Berry played on the band's first seven-inch EP Polly Wog Stew, which was recorded in 1982. Shortly after, he left the band, as did Schellenbach, according to Rolling Stone.

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He went on to play with several other bands including Bourbon Deluxe and Big Fat Love, according to Noisey.

When the Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, Adam Horowitz, who replaced Schellenbach, read a speech by Yauch that mentioned Berry as a formative member of the band.

Luscious Jackson memorialized Berry on Facebook:

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"We are heartbroken hearing the news of the passing of John Berry, the original guitarist and founder of the Beastie Boys," it stated. "He was a good friend and rabble rouser and if it wasn't for him, there'd be no Beasties, no Luscious Jackson, no Grand Royal and god knows what else. John brought us all together in his crazy wooden house on the UWS ... Rest In Piece friend..."