RUN-DMC ‘RETIRE’

Reverend Run says he can't go on without slain bandmember Jam Master Jay...

RUN-DMC have “retired”, according to REVEREND RUN.

The future of the group has been in serious doubt following the murder of DJ Jam Master Jay. The star, real name Jason Mizell, was one of two men shot in the incident inside a Queens recording studio in New York (October 30). He was shot in the head and died at the scene.

Fellow bandmember Run said that without Jay, the band can’t continue.

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He said: “The thing that I recognise is that we were just on tour with Aerosmith and Kid Rock and we can’t perform anymore. Nobody wants to see Run and DMC without Jay. Jay was definitely one third of the group. People might see us on television and be wondering if Jay was a significant part of the group. Yes, he was…

“Run-DMC is officially retired. I can’t get out onstage with a new DJ. Some rock bands can replace the drummer, but I don’t know any other way but with the three original members. We’re retired, does anybody have a job out there?”

Jay’s funeral took place yesterday (November 6) at the Allen AME Cathedral in Queens.

Hailing from New York, Run-DMC are noted as one of the original and most important rap groups in the world.

Moving rap into the mainstream, their first three albums, released throughout the mid-80s, ‘Run-DMC’, ‘King Of Rock’ and ‘Raising Hell’ are considered modern-day classics.

In 1986, their cover of Aerosmith’s ‘Walk This Way’, which featured Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, was one of the first singles to successfully combine rap and rock, scoring them a Top Ten hit in the UK

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Although their popularity waned in recent years, a new version of ‘It’s Like That’, released as Run-DMC Vs Jason Nevins, became a world-wide smash in 1998, topping the UK singles chart, their only Number One in this country.

NME.COM has set up a board where you can pay tribute to Jay. Simply click here and share your thoughts and memories with us.

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