I’m a massive fan of the Beastie Boys. Which is why I fought hard from the first announcement of the Lolla headliners to put them on the cover of our magazine. Everyone here was jazzed to put our pop culture heroes in a massive feature package. So when the group’s publicist called the whole thing off last Thursday, for mysterious unnamed reasons, we suspected the worst.

Moments ago the BBoys set out an email to fans and posted a video [posted above] on their site announcing MCA, a.k.a. Adam Yauch, has been diagnosed with cancer, in his left parotid (salivary) gland and a nearby lymph node. The 45-year-old will have surgery this week, followed by radiation treatment. The only good news for Yauch and Beastie Boys fans? The growths are localized and will not affect the rapper’s voice.

But, yes, this means concerts will be canceled, and the promotions for the new album delayed. Fresh Clean Media, which reps Lolla, told us moments ago, “”We were just told minutes ago about the cancellation for Lolla. We are working on the slot and will send an update to the schedule as soon as we can.” So, the Beastie Boys will not play Lollapalooza.

This weekend on the train to and from Pitchfork, I listened to “Too Many Rappers,” the trio’s insanely banging new single, on loop. [Do the same here.] Frankly, I’m a little shaken up. I love these guys. We wish them the best.