Yanowitz was born in Chicago's Hyde Park and was raised Jewish in Salt Lake City, Utah. His father, Frank Yanowitz is a jazz musician/composer and a cardiologist. Yanowitz began playing drums at the age of seven. He received an English major from Tufts University in 1989.
In 1990 Yanowitz moved to Los Angeles and became one of the founding members and original drummer of the Wallflowers. Yanowitz co-produced 4 songs on the Wallflowers self-titled debut for Virgin Records also co-writing on the song "After the Blackbird Sings".
Yanowitz met Natalie Merchant in Los Angeles in 1994 and soon moved to New York to work closely with Merchant on what was to be her first solo record Tigerlily. Featuring the three top 40 hits, "Carnival", "Wonder", and "Jealousy", Tigerlily went on to sell over six million copies, and remains Merchant's best selling record to date. Yanowitz recorded two more records with Merchant, Ophelia, and Live in Concert. Yanowitz was Merchant's boyfriend from 1994 until their abrupt split in 2000.

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