Nathaniel Ayers
| Nathaniel Ayers | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, Jr. |
| Born | January 31, 1951 |
| Instruments | Double bass, Violin, Cello, Drums, Piano |
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.
Ayers began playing the double bass during middle school. He attended the Juilliard School in New York as a double bassist, but suffered a mental breakdown during his third 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, where he received electroconvulsive therapy 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 and suffering from the debilitating symptoms of schizophrenia, Ayers lived and played music on the streets.
Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez 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, released April 24, 2009 with Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. in the lead roles. In the film, Ayers is depicted as a cellist, rather than a bassist.
Ayers and Lopez's relationship was also nationally highlighted in the March 22, 2009 episode of 60 Minutes on CBS.
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