- He lived long enough to see the Beastie Boys inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- In April 2012, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with his group Beastie Boys, however, he was too sick to attend the ceremony. His band-mates paid tribute to him by reading a letter he wrote in gratitude for the honor. The group was also set to perform, but chose not to due to his absence. He died about a month later.
- In many ways, he was the most unique of the Beastie Boys. He was the only member born and raised in Brooklyn and the only one not born under the sign of Scorpio (he was a Leo). The oldest of the Beastie Boys, he had a full beard while his band-mates still had baby fat. His raspy voice is distinct from Adam Horovitz's and Mike D's more nasal voices, and he converted to Buddhism, while his band-mates still consider themselves Jewish.
- He was straight-edged and a huge Minor Threat fan when the Beastie Boys first formed as a punk group. When they began to rap, Yauch, as did his band-mates, started to drink and do drugs. By the early 1990's, Yauch had quit substance abuse once again, but this time it was due to his converting to Buddhism.
- Directs many of the Beastie Boys videos under the identity of "Nathaniel Hörnblowér". Among the better known videos he has directed are the ones for "So What'cha Want", "Intergalactic", & "Ch-Check It Out". "Nathaniel Hörnblowér" (Yauch), with his bushy red hair and lederhosens, has made several public appearance, including his raiding of the stage so he could steal an award from the director of an R.E.M. video to give to Spike Jonze for directing Beastie Boys: Sabotage (1994) at the 1994 MTV Video Awards. It turns out that this incident was a prank gone wrong, as he was expecting Spike Jonze to win and thought it would be funny if "Nathaniel Hörnblowér" stole Spike Jonze's award.
- As a young man, he was fascinated by guns and owned many of them. He included raps about his guns on Beastie Boys songs from the albums "Licensed to Ill" and "Paul's Boutique". Today, as a Buddhist and pacifist, he no longer owns guns. In the video for the song "No Sleep till Brooklyn" (from 1986), he is seen shooting a Tommy gun at a stack of Marshall amplifiers, and in the video of "Something's Gotta Give" (from 1992), he is seen smashing one of his handguns with a sledgehammer.
- Is a talented bass player who, besides rapping, frequently plays on Beastie Boys tracks.
- He is survived by his wife, Dechen Wangdu and daughter Tenzen Losel; and his parents, Frances and Noel Yauch.
- He is one of the biggest fans of the reggae-flavored hardcore punk of the veteran, all-black band called the Bad Brains (from Washington, D.C.). He titled their self-titled debut LP the greatest hardcore punk album of all time and has implied it may be his favorite album of all time.
- His father is of five eighths Irish, one quarter German, and one eighth French, descent. His mother is from a Jewish family (from Austria and Hungary).
- Has one daughter, Tenzin Losel Yauch, with wife Dechen Wangdu.
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