Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, Jr. (born January 31, 1951) is an American musician. He is the subject of numerous newspaper columns, a book, and a 2009 film adaptation based on the columns. A foundation bearing his name was started in 2008 with an aim to support artistically gifted people with

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

School and severe mental health crisis

Ayers began playing the

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

during middle school. He attended the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

in New York as a double bassist, but had a

mental breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

during his second year and was institutionalized. Ayers was one of the few black students at Juilliard at that time. For some years he lived with his mother in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, where he received

electroconvulsive therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatry, psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroco ...

for his illness to no avail. After his mother's death in 2000, he moved to Los Angeles, thinking that his father lived there.

Homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

and debilitated with symptoms of

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

, Ayers lived and played music on the streets.

''The Soloist''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' columnist

Steve Lopez Steven M. Lopez (born 1953) is an American journalist and four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist who has been a columnist for ''The Los Angeles Times'' since 2001. Life and work Lopez is a native of Pittsburg, California, and attended San Jose Stat ...

met Ayers at Pershing Square in 2005, and discovered his background at Juilliard. Lopez wrote several columns about his relationship with Ayers, and Nathaniel's slow transition out of homelessness. Lopez's subsequent book, ''The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music'', was based on his relationship with Ayers. The book has been adapted into a film and a play titled ''

The Soloist ''The Soloist'' is a 2009 drama film directed by Joe Wright, and starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. The plot is based on the true story of Nathaniel Ayers, a musician who developed schizophrenia and became homeless. The film was released i ...

'', released April 24, 2009 with

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film '' Ray'', for which he won the ...

and

Robert Downey Jr. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His career has been characterized by critical and popular success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal troubles, before a resurgence of ...

in the lead roles. In the film, Ayers is depicted as a

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

, rather than a bassist. Ayers and Lopez's relationship was also nationally highlighted in the March 22, 2009 episode of ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...

'' on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

The Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation

Ayers's sister, Jennifer Ayers-Moore, is the chairwoman and founder of the Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Foundation. The foundation, launched in 2008, began with Jennifer's desire to help what she and Nathaniel hope will be thousands of people. An endowment will be set up to continue their ability to keep the public awareness about mental health at the forefront of the nation's consciousness. The NAAF will facilitate the appreciation of the contributions that artistic expression make to the advancement of wellness and treatment, collaborate with mental health and arts organizations to identify and exhibit the work of the artistically gifted, and to provide for grants to worthy nonprofit organizations that embody the mission of the foundation.

References

External links

TED Talk 'Robert Gupta: Music is medicine, music is sanity'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayers, Nathaniel American classical violinists Male classical violinists American male violinists American classical cellists American classical double-bassists Male double-bassists People with schizophrenia Outsider musicians Musicians from Cleveland Musicians from Los Angeles 1951 births Living people Homeless people Classical musicians from California Classical musicians from Ohio 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century double-bassists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people 21st-century American violinists 21st-century cellists