Leslie Bell, 33, said the band members often let local musicians record for free at the studio, and had remained in Queens to give back to the community.

"He is one great man," said Bell. "As they say, the good always die young."

Publicist Tracy Miller said Mizell and McDaniels had planned to perform in Washington, D.C., on Thursday at a Washington Wizards basketball game. Mizell had performed on Tuesday in Alabama, she said.

Mizell was married and had three children, she said.

Run DMC released a greatest-hits album earlier this year. In 2001, the rappers produced "Crown Royal," breaking an eight-year silence.

And a look at Jay's musical importance:

Jam Master Jay's sonic experiments with spacious drum breaks and grinding guitar riffs helped make Run-DMC the first hip-hop group to break into mainstream music.

He joined 20 years ago with Joseph "Run" Simmons and Daryl "DMC" McDaniels to form the group that would be more responsible than any other for spreading the idea that one person — a disc jockey — could provide the entire musical backdrop for a song.


"These are our Beatles," Public Enemy frontman Chuck D told The New York Times on Wednesday, hours after the 37-year-old was shot to death at a recording studio near the neighborhood where the group grew up. Chuck D had once rapped, "Run-DMC first said a DJ could be a band."


DJs like Jay, whose real name was Jason Mizell, became adept at scratching vinyl records forward and backward in time with a beat, working one turntable with each hand, to create new sounds the original artists never imagined. The rise of the technique enabled thousands of people to express themselves musically even if they lacked the instruments or resources to put together a full band.


"We always knew rap was for everyone," Jay said in a 2001 interview with MTV. "Anyone could rap over all kinds of music."


The three members of the group grew up middle-class homes in the Hollis neighborhood of New York's Queens borough. Simmons and McDaniels started out rapping at parties, and later invited Mizell to form a group with them.


Simmons' brother, Russell, had formed a small label with producer Rick Rubin and signed early hip-hop stars including Kurtis Blow. The new group Joseph Simmons had formed with McDaniels and Mizell soon joined the roster.


While many early '80s hip-hop artists rapped over clean dance beats, Run-DMC and Rubin chopped up riffs from classic rock records for a grittier sound. The risk paid off with several rock-influenced hits, including "Rock Box" and "King of Rock."

page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5