5th May 2012 - Adam Yauch, Demi Moore, CIndy Crawford

NEW YORK (AP) — Adam Yauch, the gravelly voiced rapper who helped make the Beastie Boys one of the seminal groups in hip-hop, died Friday. He was 47. Yauch, also known as MCA, died in New York after a nearly three-year battle with cancer, his representatives said. He had been diagnosed with a cancerous salivary gland in 2009. At the time, Yauch expressed hope that it was "very treatable," but his illness forced the group to cancel shows and delayed the release of their 2011 album, "Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2." He hadn't performed in public since 2009 and was absent when the Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month. Yauch was an integral, founding member to the ever-weaving trio: three Jewish kids from New York who found widespread respect in a hip-hop world with few credible white performers. In a 25-year span that covered four No. 1 albums and more than 40 million records sold, the Beastie Boys played both prankster and pioneer, a groundbreaking act that helped bring hip-hop to the mainstream. "The group's music crossed genres and color lines and helped bring rap to a wider audience," said Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy. "Yauch was an immense talent and creative visionary."

It's been seven months since Demi Moore announced the end of her six-year marriage to Ashton Kutcher, and on Thursday, she made things official by changing her Twitter username from @mrskutcher to @justdemi. "So hard finding a name that was fun, somewhat playful and available. So for now it will be @justdemi," she wrote. "It could grow on me!" Striptease star Moore, 49, added: "Thanks everyone for your help in finding my new name!" The actress first asked her 4.9 million followers for input in April. "Time for a change, Twitter name change. Any suggestions?" she asked. "Collecting all the suggestions! Thank you. Keep them coming!" Moore had previously defended her decision to keep her @mrskutcher username in 2011, writing: "Changing my Twitter name isn't a top priority right now. Sorry it bothers so many of you. Should I not tweet until I do? Does it really matter?"

To celebrate Mother's Day, Cindy Crawford posed with her 10-year-old daughter Kaia Gerber and mother, Jennifer Sue Crawford-Moluf, for a commercial and print ad for JC Penney. The 46-year-old is the mother to Kaia Gerber with husband Rande Gerber. The couple also has a son, 12-year-old Presley Walker Gerber, and were married in 1998. Crawford was previously married to actor Richard Gere for almost four years. They have no children together. Crawford and Kaia Gerber's participation in the ad campaign comes just a month after Gerber was featured in an ad for Versace's children's line, which showed the 10-year-old in a short skirt and leather jacket. "She did one picture and it ended up going everywhere! I didn't quite understand how much media play it would get," Crawford said in an interview with The Daily Front Row. Crawford later added she was on set while her daughter was shooting the ad. "At this point, she's too young to pursue a career. There aren't even a handful of jobs for a 10-year-old girl," Crawford said. "But if she's 17 and wants to try it ... of course, what can I say?" Crawford, who began her own modeling career when she was about 16, was considered to be a muse to the late Gianni Versace. Kaia Gerber talked about her mother in the advertisement for JC Penney, which can be viewed below. "She's the best mom in the world," Gerber said about Crawford. "She's so nice and I can actually hang out with her and have fun." See the video with Crawford and her family below.