Adam Nathaniel Yauch (/jaʊk/YOWK; August 5, 1964 – May 4, 2012), also known by the stage name MCA,[1] was an American rapper, bassist, filmmaker and a founding member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys. Besides his musical work, he also directed many of the band's music videos and did much of their promotional photography, often using the pseudonym Nathanial Hörnblowér for such work.
Born in Brooklyn, New York City, Yauch was an only child. His father Noel was an architect,[4] and his mother Frances was a social worker.[5][6][7][8] Yauch's mother was Jewish and his father Catholic, but he had a non-religious upbringing[6] in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn.[9]
Beastie Boys, a hip-hop trio, released their first album Licensed to Ill on Def Jam Records when Yauch was 22. He directed many of Beastie Boys' music videos, often under the pseudonym Nathanial Hörnblowér.[12][16]
Beastie Boys had sold 40 million records worldwide by 2010.[12] In April 2012, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yauch was inducted in absentia due to his illness.[10] His bandmates paid tribute to him; a letter from Yauch was read to the audience.[18]
In 2011, Yauch received the Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters from Bard College, the college he attended for two years. The award is "given in recognition of a significant contribution to the American artistic or literary heritage".[19]
Yauch produced Build a Nation (2007), the comeback album from hardcore/punk band Bad Brains. When Bad Brains released Into the Future (2012), the band dedicated the album to Yauch, their longtime friend and backer, who had died several months previously.[20]
In July 2009, Yauch was diagnosed with a cancerous parotid gland and lymph node. He underwent surgery and radiation therapy, delaying the release of Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1 until 2011 (when it was renamed to Hot Sauce Committee Part Two) and canceling the trio's planned tour.[28][29] He was unable to appear in music videos for the album. At the time, Yauch described the cancer as "very treatable".[30]
Yauch died in Manhattan, New York, at age 47 on May 4, 2012.[31][3] In his last will and testament, Yauch left instructions that his music could not be used in advertising, though the legal validity of such an instruction has been questioned.[32]
On May 3, 2013, ceremonies were held to rename the Palmetto Playground in Brooklyn Heights to Adam Yauch Park.[9]