Adam Keefe Horovitz also known as King Ad-Rock or Adrock, is an American musician, guitarist, rapper, producer, and actor. He is best known as a member of the pioneering hip-hop group, Beastie Boys, which also include Michael "Mike D" Diamond, Adam "MCA" Yauch. Since around the time of the Hello Nasty album, the DJ for the group has been Michael "Mix Master Mike" Schwartz, who was featured in the song "Three MC's and One DJ".
Horovitz was born in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of Doris Keefe and playwright Israel Horovitz. Horovitz began his musical career with a stint in the punk rock band, The Young and the Useless, who would often perform with Beastie Boys. When Beastie Boy guitarist John Biflow quit, Horovitz was an obvious choice to replace him. The Beastie Boys started out as a punk group in 1979, and switched to hip hop with the release of their debut solo album Licensed to Ill (1986), enjoyed international critical acclaim and commercial success. They're well known for their eclecticism, jocular and flippant attitude toward interviews and interviewers, obscure cultural references and kitschy lyrics, and performing in outlandish matching suits.
They are one of the longest-lived hip hop acts and continue to enjoy commercial and critical success in 2008, more than 20 years after the release of their debut album. On September 27, 2007 they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
A native New Yorker, Ricky Powell graduated from Hunter College with a B.S. in physical education and worked as a substitute teacher in New York public schools. As a photographer, his work has been published in The New York Times, the New York Post, the Daily News, The Village Voice, Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Paper, and Grand Royal, to name a few. Powell’s clients have included Cannon, MTV, NBC, the Apollo Theater, Capitol Records, and Weiden + Kennedy, among others. His work has been exhibited at the Eyejammie Fine Arts Gallery, New York and Upper Playground, San Francisco and was featured in “500 of the Greatest Rock and Roll Photos,” presented by Kodak. Powell is the author of Public Access: Ricky Powell Photographs 1985–2005 (Miss Rosen Editions/powerHouse Books, 2005), Frozade Moments (Eyejammie.com, 2005), Oh Snap!: The Rap Photography of Ricky Powell (St. Martin’s, 1998) and The Rickford Files: Classic New York Photographs (St. Martin’s, 1999).
