(10/31/02, 12 a.m. ET) -- Jam Master Jay, a member of the pioneering rap trio Run-DMC was shot and killed at a recording studio on Merrick Boulevard in the Jamaica section of Queens on Wedensday night (October 30). He was 37. The DJ, whose real name is Jason Mizell, was shot in the head, and a person with him was shot in the ankle and taken to a local hospital, according to police.
New York television stations were reporting that some Run-DMC fans, already in tears, started gathering near the area of the shooting immediately after the news broke. There were no suspects, no arrests, and no motive for the shooting as of press time.
Run-DMC's self-titled debut was released in 1983. Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, along with Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell were the first rap act to score a gold (Run-DMC, 1983), platinum (King Of Rock, 1985) and multi-platinum (Raising Hell, 1986) album.
Run-DMC's best-selling album, Raising Hell features a remake of the classic Aerosmith hit "Walk This Way." The track, a collaboration between the rap trio and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, became a top 10 hit and spawned the rap-rock hybrid that is still popular today.
Mizell also founded Scratch Media Productions with partners Rob Principe and Reg E. Gaines, author of Bring In Da Noise, Bring In Da Funk. The organization's mission statement includes "educating amateur DJs through traveling symposiums, staged theater productions, and consumer and educational publishing."
-- Jason Gelman, New York
New York television stations were reporting that some Run-DMC fans, already in tears, started gathering near the area of the shooting immediately after the news broke. There were no suspects, no arrests, and no motive for the shooting as of press time.
Run-DMC's self-titled debut was released in 1983. Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, along with Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell were the first rap act to score a gold (Run-DMC, 1983), platinum (King Of Rock, 1985) and multi-platinum (Raising Hell, 1986) album.
Run-DMC's best-selling album, Raising Hell features a remake of the classic Aerosmith hit "Walk This Way." The track, a collaboration between the rap trio and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, became a top 10 hit and spawned the rap-rock hybrid that is still popular today.
Mizell also founded Scratch Media Productions with partners Rob Principe and Reg E. Gaines, author of Bring In Da Noise, Bring In Da Funk. The organization's mission statement includes "educating amateur DJs through traveling symposiums, staged theater productions, and consumer and educational publishing."
-- Jason Gelman, New York
