Adam Yauch

Early Life

Band Boys are a common thing in the history of the American music industry. You can’t speak of top American Band Boys without including Adam Yauch and his Beastie Boys.

Adam Yauch was popularly known as an American rapper and a founding member of the legendary hip hop group Beastie Boys along with Mike D and Ad-Rock.

A talented music genius skilled in playing bass, guitar, and vocals, Yauch was responsible for producing and directing many of their music videos.

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1964. Yauch was an only child and son of Noel, an architect and his mother Frances was a social worker.

Even though his parents had separate religions, a mother who was a Jewish and his father Catholic, Yauch had a non-religious upbringing in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn.

Education & Career

Yauch was privileged to attend Edward R. Murrow High School In Brooklyn’s Midwood neighborhood. Yauch had his transformative start while schooling at the Edward R. Murrow High School.

During his time at the school, Yauch started teaching himself to play the bass guitar. It was also there the idea to start a boy band originated from.

With amazing friends like John Berry, Kate Schellenbach, and Michael Diamond, Yauch and his friends formed the first version of the band which was named “The Young Aborigines”.

The Young Aborigines was a punk band and they had their first show on his 17th birthday.
As time went by, the group changed their name to Beastie Boys. Not only did they change their band name, they also switched genres to rap music.

Yauch’s musical career officially started in 1981 when his band group, Beastie Boys transitioned from punk to hip-hop and released their debut album, “Licensed to Ill,” in 1986.

The album was a massive success that launched the boys into limelight and quickly made them one of the most popular hip-hop acts of the time.

With Beastie Boys, Yauch played a significant role as he was in charge of directing many of the group’s music videos, which also contributed to their success and visibility.

Beyond being musicians and artists, Yauch and his band members played a significant role in popularizing hip-hop music among mainstream audiences.

One thing you can applaud Yauch and his bandmates for was their drive and passion to learn, evolve and stay relevant in the industry. This inspired them to experiment with different musical styles.

They were also open to collaborations and during their active era the band collaborated with some of the biggest stars in music at the time.

The evidence of their hard work reflected in their numerous wins as a band. Yauch and his Beastie Boys sold over 40 million records worldwide and were eventually inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

Beyond music, Yauch was also a talented filmmaker. He took his interest in filmmaking to a whole new level when he founded Oscilloscope Laboratories, an independent film production and distribution company, in 2008. He directed several documentaries under the pseudonym Nathaniel Hörnblowér.

Adam Yauch was also involved in activism. Inspired by his interest in Tibetan Buddhism and his travels, he founded the Milarepa Fund in 1994 to support the Tibetan independence movement. He organized the Tibetan Freedom Concerts, which raised awareness and funds for the cause.

Personal Life

Adam Yauch had quite a simple personal life outside of the mainstream media. He married Tibetan American, Dechen Wangdu in 1998, whom he met while attending a speech by the Dalai Lama at Harvard University in 1995.

The couple had a daughter together. Yauch was also a practicing Buddist and this inspired most of his activism work.

Yauch was diagnosed with cancer of the parotid gland and a lymph node in 2009. He underwent surgery and radiation therapy but his condition worsened over time.

Despite his illness, Yauch continued to work on music and film projects. In 2011, the Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Yauch received the Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters from Bard College.

Yauch passed away in 2012 at the age of 47 but his legacy through his music, films, and activism continue to live on and still make an impact today.