Adam Keefe Horovitz (born October 31, 1966), better known as Ad-Rock or King Ad-Rock, is an American rapper, guitarist and actor. He was a member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys. He is married to musician and feminist activist Kathleen Hanna.
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Early life
Horovitz was born and raised on Park Avenue, Manhattan, New York, the son of Doris (née Keefe) and playwright Israel Horovitz. His sister is film producer Rachael Horovitz. His father is Jewish, whereas his mother, who was of Irish descent, was Roman Catholic. He had a secular upbringing.
Career
Horovitz began his music career with a stint in the punk rock band The Young and the Useless, who would often perform with Beastie Boys. In 1982, Beastie Boys guitarist John Berry quit and Horovitz replaced him. He was only 16 at the time. After Horovitz joined the band, Beastie Boys changed their sound, evolving from a hardcore punk band to a more hip-hop oriented group. The band was signed to Def Jam, and released their debut album Licensed to Ill in 1986. The album was a huge commercial success, and spawned six hit singles. Seven albums followed, and by 2010 Beastie Boys had sold 22 million records in the United States alone, and 40 million worldwide. In 2012, Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In addition to his work with Beastie Boys, Horovitz also remixes numerous tracks for other artists under the alias 41 Small Stars. He plays bass in The Tender Moments, the backing band of New York-based cabaret performer Bridget Everett.
Horovitz has acted in several motion pictures and television shows. Some of his roles include Tim ‘Chino’ Doolan in Lost Angels (1989), Sam in Roadside Prophets (1992), Repulski in Godspeed (2007), Fletcher in While We’re Young (2014), and Nick in Golden Exits (2017).
In 2020, he was featured in the documentary Have a Good Trip.
Personal life
In the late 1980s, Horovitz was in a relationship with American actress Molly Ringwald. They met on the set of The Pick-up Artist.
Horovitz was married to actress Ione Skye from 1992 to 1995. They separated in 1995 and divorced in 1999.
Since 1996 he has been involved with riot grrrl artist Kathleen Hanna; they married in 2006. Horovitz is featured prominently in The Punk Singer, a 2013 documentary film about Hanna’s life and career; he even shot a scene himself to show Hanna’s distressed reaction to the medication she was taking to treat Lyme disease.
Horovitz began to wear a medical alert bracelet following the tonic–clonic seizure he experienced in 2003.
In November 2018, Horovitz purchased a house in South Pasadena, California.
