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IMDbPro

Adam Yauch(1964-2012)

  • Actor
  • Director
  • Composer
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Adam Yauch
A documentary on legendary hip-hop troupe A Tribe Called Quest.
Play trailer2:22
Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest (2011)
7 Videos
18 Photos
Adam Yauch, an only child, was born on August 5, 1964 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Frances and Noel Yauch, who is a painter and architect. His father was Catholic (of Irish, German, and French descent) and his mother was Jewish. Adam attended Edward R. Murrow High School in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn. In high school, he taught himself to play the bass guitar. He formed Beastie Boys with John Berry, Kate Schellenbach, and Mike D. On his seventeenth birthday, they played their first show, then still a hardcore punk band in the vein of Reagan Youth. Adam attended Bard College for two years before dropping out.

Beastie Boys added Adam Horovitz to the group, and released their first album, Licensed to Ill, on Def Jam Records, now performing as a hip hop trio. They went on to open for Madonna on her famous "Like a Virgin" tour. The group gained huge success with numerous genius albums and tours, and founded their own label "Grand Royal Records" in 1993.

Under the pseudonym "Nathanial Hörnblowér", Yauch directed many of the Beastie Boys' music videos. In 2002, Yauch built a recording studio in New York City called Oscilloscope Laboratories. He began an independent film distributing company called Oscilloscope Pictures. Yauch directed the 2006 Beastie Boys concert film, although in the DVD extras for the film, the title character in "A Day in the Life of Nathanial Hörnblowér" is played by David Cross. He also directed the 2008 film Gunnin' For That #1 Spot about eight high school basketball prospects at the Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic at Rucker Park in Harlem, New York City. Yauch produced Build a Nation, the comeback album from hardcore/punk band Bad Brains. Oscilloscope Laboratories also distributed Adam Yauch's directorial film debut, basketball documentary Gunnin' For That #1 Spot (2008) as well as Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy (2008) and Oren Moverman's The Messenger (2009).

Yauch was a practicing Buddhist. Inspired by his own extensive travels as well as the The Dalai Lama, Yauch became publicly passionate about the destructive, violent situation in Tibet, and created "The Milarepa Fund" in 1994 to help promote awareness and generate support around the world. He organized the first "Tibetan Freedom Concert" in San Francisco in 1996, which he followed with years of a similar series in the United States and worldwide. His Milarepa Fund has raised large sums of money for the Tibetan cause and its nonviolent Buddhist struggle to maintain an actual state of existence on the planet. In May of 1998, Adam married Dechen Wangdu, and they have a daughter named Tenzin Losel Yauch. Yauch has influenced an entire generation of human souls to look deep within themselves in search of a greater truth and a peaceful, compassionate understanding of all that surrounds us.

In 2009, Yauch was diagnosed and treated for a cancerous parotid gland and a lymph node, and underwent surgery and radiation therapy, delaying the release of Hot Sauce Committee Part Two and the subsequent tour. He was unable to appear in music videos for the album. Yauch became a vegan under the recommendation of his Tibetan doctors.

Beastie Boys had sold 40 million records worldwide by 2010. In 2011, Yauch received the Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters from Bard College, the college he attended for two years. In April 2012, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yauch was inducted in absentia due to his illness. His bandmates paid tribute to Yauch, and a letter from him was read to the crowd.

Adam Yauch died from cancer on May 4, 2012, in New York City. He was survived by his wife and son.
BornAugust 5, 1964
DiedMay 4, 2012(47)
BornAugust 5, 1964
DiedMay 4, 2012(47)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Awards

Photos18

Adam Yauch in Charlie Rose (1991)
Mike D, Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch, and Beastie Boys
Adam Yauch at an event for The Social Network (2010)
Adam Yauch at an event for The Social Network (2010)
Lenny Kravitz and Adam Yauch
Woody Harrelson and Adam Yauch
Woody Harrelson and Adam Yauch
Adam Yauch
Adam Yauch
Adam Yauch at an event for Grey Gardens (2009)
Adam Yauch
Mike D, Adam Horovitz, Adam Yauch, Mix Master Mike, and Beastie Boys

Known for

Hugh Jackman in Real Steel (2011)
Real Steel
7.0
  • Soundtrack("Here's a Little Something for Ya")
  • 2011
Simon Pegg, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Sofia Boutella, and Chris Pine in Star Trek Beyond (2016)
Star Trek Beyond
7.0
  • Soundtrack("Sabotage")
  • 2016
Star Trek (2009)
Star Trek
7.9
  • Soundtrack("Sabotage")
  • 2009
Willem Dafoe, Jamie Foxx, Rhys Ifans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zendaya, and Tom Holland in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Spider-Man: No Way Home
8.2
  • Soundtrack("No Sleep 'till Brooklyn")
  • 2021

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Beastie Boys: Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win (2011)
    Beastie Boys: Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win
  • Beastie Boys: Make Some Noise (2011)
    Beastie Boys: Make Some Noise
  • Beastie Boys: Fight for Your Right Revisited (2011)
    Beastie Boys: Fight for Your Right Revisited
  • Beastie Boys: Suco De Tangerina (2007)
    Beastie Boys: Suco De Tangerina
  • Beastie Boys: The Rat Cage (2007)
    Beastie Boys: The Rat Cage
  • Beastie Boys: The Gala Event
  • Beastie Boys: Off the Grid (2007)
    Beastie Boys: Off the Grid
  • Beastie Boys: Shazam! (2007)
    Beastie Boys: Shazam!
  • Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (2007)
    Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
    • (voice)
  • Beastie Boys: Brass Monkey (Live)
  • Beastie Boys: An Open Letter to NYC (2004)
    Beastie Boys: An Open Letter to NYC
  • Beastie Boys: Rhyme the Rhyme Well (2004)
    Beastie Boys: Rhyme the Rhyme Well
  • Beastie Boys: Right Right Now Now (2004)
    Beastie Boys: Right Right Now Now
  • Beastie Boys: Triple Trouble (2004)
    Beastie Boys: Triple Trouble
  • Beastie Boys: Ch-Check It Out (2004)
    Beastie Boys: Ch-Check It Out

Director

  • Beastie Boys: Make Some Noise (2011)
    Beastie Boys: Make Some Noise
  • Beastie Boys: Fight for Your Right Revisited (2011)
    Beastie Boys: Fight for Your Right Revisited
  • Gunnin' for That #1 Spot (2008)
    Gunnin' for That #1 Spot
  • Beastie Boys: Off the Grid (2007)
    Beastie Boys: Off the Grid
  • Beastie Boys: Shazam! (2007)
    Beastie Boys: Shazam!
  • A Day in the Life of Nathaniel Hornblower (2006)
    A Day in the Life of Nathaniel Hornblower
  • Awesome; I Shot That! (2006)
    Awesome; I Shot That!
    • (as Nathaniel Hörnblowér)
  • Beastie Boys: Brass Monkey (Live)
  • Beastie Boys: An Open Letter to NYC (2004)
    Beastie Boys: An Open Letter to NYC
  • Beastie Boys: Rhyme the Rhyme Well (2004)
    Beastie Boys: Rhyme the Rhyme Well
  • Beastie Boys: Right Right Now Now (2004)
    Beastie Boys: Right Right Now Now
  • Beastie Boys: Triple Trouble (2004)
    Beastie Boys: Triple Trouble
  • Beastie Boys: Ch-Check It Out (2004)
    Beastie Boys: Ch-Check It Out
  • Beastie Boys: Video Anthology (2000)
    Beastie Boys: Video Anthology
    • (videos Intergalactic, Shake Your Rump, Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun, Body Movin', So What'cha Want, Shadrach, Three MC's & One DJ, Pass the Mic, Holy Snappers, The Robot vs. the Octopus Monster Saga, Alive, as Nathanial Hörnblowér)
  • Beastie Boys: Start! (2000)
    Beastie Boys: Start!

Composer

  • Awesome; I Shot That! (2006)
    Awesome; I Shot That!
  • Beck: E-Pro (2005)
    Beck: E-Pro
  • Keep Your Eyes Open (2002)
    Keep Your Eyes Open
  • Beastie Boys: Video Anthology (2000)
    Beastie Boys: Video Anthology
  • Beastie Boys: Three MCs and One DJ (1999)
    Beastie Boys: Three MCs and One DJ
  • Beastie Boys: Body Movin' (1998)
    Beastie Boys: Body Movin'
  • Beastie Boys: Intergalactic (1998)
    Beastie Boys: Intergalactic
  • Beastie Boys: Something's Got to Give
  • Beastie

Videos7

Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest
Trailer 2:22
Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest
Public Enemy: Welcome to the Terrordome
Trailer 2:52
Public Enemy: Welcome to the Terrordome
Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!
Trailer 0:57
Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!
Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!
Trailer 1:01
Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!
Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!
Trailer 1:07
Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!
Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!
Trailer 1:07
Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!
Gunnin' for That #1 Spot
Promo 2:32
Gunnin' for That #1 Spot

Personal details

Edit
    • Adam Yauch's Milarepa Fund for Tibet
    • The Official Beastie Boys Site
    • August 5, 1964
    • Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
    • May 4, 2012
    • Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA(salivary gland cancer)
    • Dechen WangduJuly 24, 1998 - May 4, 2012 (his death, 1 child)
  • Other works
    Member of pop/rap group The Beastie Boys
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Interviews
    • 3 Articles
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    He lived long enough to see the Beastie Boys inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
  • Quotes
    We started going in other MCs' crawl space to find out what's going on-not to steal any rhymes, but just to make sure no one's stealing from us.

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