Blog Posts by Yahoo! Music

Adam Yauch, 1964-2012 [photo: WireImage]According to breaking-news reports this morning from Rolling Stone and TMZ, Adam "MCA" Yauch, co-founder of Grammy-winners and recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees the Beastie Boys, has died at age 47. Yauch is survived by his wife and daughter. As of this writing, it is unclear if his death is related to the cancer he was treated for in 2009.

Yauch revealed he had cancer in a salivary gland in his neck in July 2009, which delayed the group's touring plans and scheduled September 2009 release of Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 1. The album, later titled Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2, eventually came out in April 2011. Last year, Yauch announced that he was optimistic about treatment, but was not yet cancer-free.

[PHOTOS: Beastie Boys through the years]

Last month, Yauch did not attend the Beasties' induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. A representative told Rolling Stone at the time: "Beastie Boys regret that Adam 'MCA' Yauch will be unable to join Mike 'Mike D'

People magazine is reporting that Whitney Houston's official cause of death was accidental drowning, and that she had cocaine in her system at the time of her death. A source has confirmed to People that contributing factors in her death included heart disease and cocaine use, according to an investigation.

Houston died of accidental drowning due to the effects of cocaine use and heart disease, a Los Angeles County coroner's spokesman said on Thursday, according to Reuters.

Houston, 48, died February 11, the afternoon before the Grammy Awards, after she was found in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where her mentor Clive Davis was holding his annual pre-Grammy bash that evening. Houston had planned to attend the party. At the time, the L.A Coroner confirmed that prescription pill bottles were found in her hotel room, but "not in alarming amounts."

Watch this space for more details about Houston's cause of death.

Related links:

• Whitney Houston's 'The Bodyguard' Co-Star Kevin

[Photo: Ron Galella/WireImage]

We know three things for certain about the '90s:

1. Michael Bolton was the era's quintessential singer

2. The mullet (the "business in front, party in back" hair style) was the quintessential haircut

3. One man had the quintessential mullet—you guessed it, Michael Bolton!

So for his birthday 59th birthday on Sunday, February 26, our friends at Snakkle.com found the best musician mullets to pay homage to the "Mullet Maestro" himself, Michael Bolton.

Britney Spears ended 2011 on a high note, what with the success of her Femme Fatale mega-tour and a proposal from longtime boyfriend Jason Trawick in December. In an upcoming issue of V Magazine, the superstar discusses her tour and poses with her team of professionals, giving them glowing reviews as "her second family."

Apparently, however, it's not Spears's goodwill that is standing out in this particular article. A commentary in the Daily Mail takes the accompanying photo into scrutiny, remarking on how quickly Spears seems to have slimmed down for this particular shoot.

Courtesy V Magazine

Justin Bieber's new holiday special, "This Is Justin Bieber," premieres tonight, December 21, on TLC...and two "besotted" British Beliebers got the Christmas gift of a lifetime, when they were surprised backstage by the Biebs himself when they attended the show's taping at ITV in London.

Photos from Justin's holiday concert

The girls weren't feeling very merry at first, when they were tricked by producers into believing their tickets for Justin's show taping had been lost and they wouldn't be able to attend. But then Justin and his swoop of hair swooped in to save the day, and the girls were more excited than little kiddies on Christmas morning. They acted like they'd seen Santa Claus:

L.A.'s KROQ 106.7 FM is America's biggest alternative rock radio station, and so for the past 22 (TWENTY-TWO!) years, it has pulled in some of the coolest artists for its annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas holiday revue. What started humbly in 1990 as an unplugged Xmas show with Dramarama, Chris Isaak, the Posies, and (2011 returning act) Social Distortion has since expanded in to a two-night, "almost" acoustic, full-on rock extravaganza, and one of the Los Angeles concert events of the year. And this year's lineup may be one of the best yet!

The Girl With the Dragon TattooAs promised, Trent Reznor last night provided the complete details for his three-hour-long 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' score, and as an added bonus, the Nine Inch Nails frontman offered up a six-song sampler as a free download. The six instrumentals run the spectrum of all the different moods Reznor and Ross had to tackle for the film: Calm, ambient, foreboding, intense, visceral, and terrifying, each delivered in a way that showcases Reznor's uniquely dark electronic signature.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla (Reuters) - A Florida judge signed an order on Thursday allowing authorities to take custody of country singer Mindy McCready's 5-year-old son Zander and bring him back to Florida if they can find him.

The order came a day after Florida officials said a missing person's report had been filed for Zander and that McCready had been ordered to return the boy. But the singer had countered that her son was safe with her.

McCready's mother, who lives in Cape Coral, Florida, has custody of the boy but McCready has visitation rights. Zander had been at his grandfather's house when McCready left with him, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Children and Families said. DCF did not say how long he had been gone.

Representatives for McCready said on Wednesday that Zander has been with her for more than 30 days, and that he was safe and healthy, adding that law enforcement officials spoke with Zander and saw him on Tuesday via the online video conferencing program