He's mostly known as part of the "Rage Quartet" but he is much more than that.
Here are some facts about the mighty drummer Brad Wilk:
(Photo: Chris Tuite)
1. He was born in Portland, Oregon USA on September 5, 1968. His full name is Bradley Joseph Wilk
2. He started playing drums when he was 11 and was influenced by drummers like: John Bonham, Keith Moon, and Elvin Jones
3. In 1989, a guy named Tom Morello formed the band "Lock Up" with guitarist Mike Livingston, bassist Kevin Wood, singer Brian Grillo, and drummer Vince Ostertag. Brad came to auditions for that band but despite Morello's good impression, he was not accepted. The band released one album that failed commercially and broke up.
4. In 1990, Brad along with Paul Plagnes, Kyle Baer, and Josh Gordon formed the Hard Rock band "Greta". Brad left the band after a year because...
5. In 1991 Morello decided to form a new band, he added Zack de la Rocha from whom he was impressed after seeing him perform, and added Brad whom he knew from the auditions in which he participated in his previous band. They were looking for a bassist and Zack suggested his childhood friend Tim Commerford. The quartet gave itself the name "Rage Against The Machine".
(Photo: Rage Against The Machine)
6. The band we call "Rage Quartet", recorded 12 songs on a tape that bore the band's name, and tried to get themselves a contract with a big record company. By the way, not all the songs from the tape will be released on the band's debut album.
7. After the tape "toured" in several offices and the band performed many times at various clubs in Los Angeles for a year, the quartet signed a record deal with "Epic Records" which was the only label that agreed to all of the band's terms.
8. In 1992, "Rage" released their debut album bearing the band's name. The album was widely played on radio stations when the first single from it "Killing in the Name" broke the charts. The album itself reached number one on the Billboard charts and number 45 on the Billboard 200. Just as in the photo on the cover of the album, "Rage" shocked the world of music.
9. Despite many rumors about the breakup of the "Rage Quartet", they released their second album "Evil Empire" in 1996. The album was a huge success and won first place on the Billboard 200, the band appeared with the song "Bulls on Parade" - the album's second single, on the SNL show and caused a great provocation in what was called the "SNL Flags Incident".
10. In 1999, the Quartet released their third album, "The Battle of Los Angeles". Here too the album won first place in the Billboard 200, but in addition, it also gave the band a Grammy nomination for the Best Rock Album category. The album also entered Rolling Stone's all-time top 500 albums. This is the band's last studio album.
11. In 2000, the band filmed the famous music video for the song "Sleep Now in the Fire" filmed on the sidewalk at the entrance to the New York Stock Exchange. The clip is directed by the famous director Michael Moore who gave them the only instruction, "No matter what happens don't stop playing". The quartet and Moore were arrested during the filming of the clip after they also tried to break into the stock exchange, they managed to stop the stock exchange from operating for several hours, a rare event!
12. Although the band officially disbanded in October 2000 after Zack decided to leave them, they released their cover album "Renegades", two months later. On the album, they pay tribute to Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Minor Threat, Eric B. & Rakim, EPMD, MC5, The Rolling Stones, Cypress Hill, and Devo.
13. After the breakup of "Rage", the remaining trio decided to try to form a new band and look for a replacement for singer Zack. Tim called him a "crossroads angel", Rick Rubin, recognized that the trio had huge potential (not really hard to spot), supported them, and pushed them to go for group therapy. Robin is also the one who invited Chris Cornell to his studio with the trio because he was sure it would be a heavenly pairing, and indeed it was !!
(Photo: Interscope)
14. In 2002, the new quartet, now supergroup, which bears the name "Audioslave" released their debut album. The combination of Chris and the three "Rage" members was just huge, a deadly combination of talented musicians with a singer with a tremendous, exciting, and rough voice. The singles "Cochise", "Show Me How to Live", "What You Are", "Like a Stone" and "I Am the Highway" were released from the album.
15. In 2005 "Audioslave" released its second album "Out of Exile". This is the band's only album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 and also earned the band its second Grammy nomination. The singles "Be Yourself", "Your Time Has Come", "Doesn't Remind Me" and "Out of Exile" were released from this album.
16. On May 6, 2005, the band held its historic performance in Cuba. The Supergroup became the first American rock band in history to receive approval to perform live in Cuba. The event was filmed and released on DVD in October 2005 and later on an album.
(Photo: illinoisentertainer.com)
17. In 2006, the supergroup's third and final album called “Revelations”. The album reached # 2 on the Billboard 200. After that, the supergroup officially disbanded as a result of artistic disagreements.
18. In 2007 the "Rage" Quartet (which included Zack) returned for a "one-off" performance at the Coachella Music Festival. Luckily in the end the show was not a one-off and the band continued their performances at major festivals over the years until 2020 !!
19. In 2013 Brad recorded the drums parts on the album "13" by the band "Black Sabbath", he also participated in the band's EP called "The End".
20. During 2014-2015 Brad was the drummer on "The Smashing Pumpkins" tour.
21. In 2016 the "Rage" trio joined another "Rage" trio, rapper B-Real from Cypress Hill, rapper Chuck D from Public Enemy, and DJ Lord, and they became the "Prophets of Rage".
22. That same year the "Prophets" released the EP "The Party's Over" and in 2017 they released their debut and only album bearing the band's name.
(Photo: Eitan Miskevich)
23. Brad also held the reputation of a recording session drummer and has collaborated over the years with many varied artists among them: actress and musician Juliette Lewis.
24. He participated in Dave Grohl's "Sound City" project.
25. He worked with Josh Homme on the soundtrack of the movie "Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys".
26. He was even the drummer of The "8G Band" accompanying the TV show "Late Night with Seth Meyers".
27. Believe it or not Brad is of German and Russian Jewish descent. Some of his family members were Holocaust survivors.
28. During Rage's visit to Israel in 2000, Brad took the microphone and sang the Hanukkah candle blessing. Do not believe? watch this at minute 3:55.