October 30, 2002: Jam Master Jay Is Killed

Left to right: Joseph Simmons (Run),

Jason Mizell (Jam Master Jay), Darryl McDaniels (DMC)

October 30, 2002: Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC is murdered, shot at his recording studio in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. He was 37 years old.

"Run" was Joseph Ward Simmons, born Number 14, 1964 in Hollis, Queens. "DMC" was Darryl Matthews McDaniels, born May 17, 1964 in Harlem, Manhattan. And "Jam Master Jay" was Jason William Mizell, born January 21, 1965 in Brooklyn. Both McDaniels and Mizell moved to Hollis as children.

All 3 members started out as deejays, influenced by the 1st rap deejay to make it big, Grandmaster Flash, leader of the Furious Five. Run got his start with a rapper managed by his brother Russell Simmons, Kurtis Blow. Soon thereafter, Run met DMC, then a deejay calling himself Easy D, and convinced him to start rapping. Not long after that, they heard a sound coming from Two-Fifths Park in Hollis, where they met Jam Master Jay.

Run and DMC liked Jay's clothing style, with Kangol caps, leather jackets and Adidas sneakers, and soon followed suit, marking them as different from the first group of rappers, who preferred disco-style outfits including tight leather pants, and now became known as "old school." With Jay taking over deejay duties, Run and DMC were free to freestyle, and Run-DMC was born. (McDaniels has said that "DMC" could also stand for "Devastating Mic Controller.")

They released their self-titled 1st album in 1984, and blew every other rap act away. King of Rock followed the next year, Raising Hell the year after that. Raising Hell included a team-up with Aerosmith, a rap cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way." It hit Number 4 on Billboard's Hot 100, becoming a bigger hit than either group had yet had separately. It gave rap credibility with hard rock fans, and vice versa: Ice-T's band Body Count wouldn't have been possible without it. Then again, neither would the career of Kid Rock, so maybe these things even out.

In 1987, Run-DMC released the 1st rap Christmas song to make it big, "Christmas in Hollis." It was featured in the film Die Hard in 1988. That year, the group starred in the film Tougher Than Leather, and released it soundtrack album. This would be followed by Back from Hell in 1990, and Down with the King in 1993.

But as so often happens, real life and side projects intervened. The members got married, and worked with others, including DMC discovering fellow Queens native Curtis Jackson, a.k.a. 50 Cent. The group reunited for the album Crown Royal in 2001. But after Jay was shot and killed, Run and DMC announced that the group was disbanding. It wouldn't be Run-DMC without Jay.

It took a long time, but in August 2020, Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr. were arrested for the crime. Their trial is set for February 2023. (UPDATE: The trail was delayed until 2024. They were convicted on February 27. The trial revealed that they targeted Jay after being cut out of a drug deal.)

In 2007, MTV named Run-DMC the greatest hip hop group of all time. The same year, VH1 (an offshoot of MTV) named them the greatest hip hop artists, soloists and groups combined. In 2009, they became the 2nd rap act, after Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, to be elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

McDaniels has stayed in the music business, and has also written comic books. Simmons became a minister, now nicknamed "Reverend Run." He and his family were featured on the MTV reality series Run's House. His brother, Russell Simmons, is the founder of Def Jam Records. Another brother, Danny Simmons is a renowned painter. Run's daughter, Vanessa Simmons, is a television personality, in a long-term relationship with actor Michael Wayans, making her part of a 2nd show-business family. Another daughter, Angela Simmons, is a fashion designer. His son Joseph Jr., or "JoJo," runs a record label. Another son, Daniel III or "Diggy," appears on the TV sitcom Grown-ish.

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October 30, 2002 was a Wednesday. Baseball season had ended 3 days earlier, with the team then known as the Anaheim Angels beating the San Francisco Giants, in Game 7 of the World Series.

Football was in midweek, although this was the day that New York Jets head coach Herman Edwards gave the press conference where he announced, "You play to win the game!" I have a separate entry for that event.

Every NBA team then in operation, except for the Sacramento Kings, played that night:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Detroit Pistons, 86-77 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, New York.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Atlanta Hawks, 105-94 at the Continental Airlines Arena in the Meadowlands. Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson scored 34 points for the Hawks, but it wasn't enough.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 98-95 at the First Union Center (now the Wachovia Center) in Philadelphia.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics, 99-96 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Miami Heat, 100-86 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 119-108 at The Pyramid in Memphis.

* The New Orleans Hornets make their debut, after 14 seasons as the original Charlotte Hornets. Ironically, it's against the last team to represent New Orleans in the NBA, the Utah Jazz, who left in 1979. The Hornets win, 100-75 at the New Orleans Arena (now named the Smoothie King Center). Karl Malone scores 20 points for the visitors, and John Stockton 14. But Baron Davis of the Hornets leads all scorers with 21 points, while Courtney Alexander scores 19 off the bench.

In 2004, Charlotte got a new NBA team, the Charlotte Bobcats. In 2013, the NBA made a deal but which the New Orleans franchise gave up the Hornets name, and became the New Orleans Pelicans. In 2014, the Bobcats reclaimed their city's old name, and became the Charlotte Hornets.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Washington Wizards, 74-68 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Houston Rockets, 91-82 at the Conseco Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis. Steve Francis scored 39 points for the Rockets, but it wasn't enough. It was the NBA debut for Yao Ming. I have a separate entry for that event.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets, 83-77 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 98-96 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the San Antonio Spurs, 106-98 atthe Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named The Arena in Oakland). Antawn Jamison scored 36 points.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 102-90 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Phoenix Suns, 86-73 at the KeyArena in Seattle.

There were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-0 at the St. Pete Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-2 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Washington Capitals, 7-2 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington. The Bruin goals came from 7 different scorers: P.J. Axelsson, Rob Zamuner, Jozef Stümpel, Brian Rolston, Bryan Berard, Joe Thornton and Glenn Murray.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Ottawa Senators, 4-1 at the Corel Center (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Nashville Predators, 7-0 at the Savvis Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis. Like the Bruins, the Blues got 7 goals from 7 different players on this night: Reed Lowe, Al MacInnis, Keith Tkachuk, Pavol Demitra, Petr Čajánek, Shjon Podein and Dallas Drake.

* And the Florida Panthers beat the Dallas Stars, 3-2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Valeri Bure scored the winning goal with 1:39 left in overtime. Bure was the younger, less successful brother of Hall-of-Famer Pavel Bure, but he's probably better remembered for his wife, actress Candace Cameron Bure. Attendance at this game: 18,532, matching the title of the sitcom starring his wife: Full House.