He is part of the rhythm section due of "Rage Against The Machine" and he holds even more extreme views than the other members of the band, he is a powerful bassist and a wonderful musician!!
(Photo: Kevin Winter)
1. His full name is Timothy Robert Commerford and he was born on February 26, 1968.
2. He grew up in Irvine California to an aerospace engineer father and a math teacher mother.
3. The bassists who influenced him a lot are mainly Gene Simmons (KISS), Sid Vicious (Sex Pistols), Steve Harris (Iron Maiden), and Geddy Lee (Rush).
4. When he was in the 5th grade his parents divorced and he stayed to live with his father when his mother left for "Sacramento". At that time his relationship with his father began to deteriorate as his father abused him in every way possible.
5. At that time, his classmate Zack De La Rocha introduced him to the bass guitar, in which he found refuge from everything that happened to him.
6. The two formed their first band "Juvenile Expression".
7. In 1991, an anonymous guitarist named Tom Morello decided to form a new band, he added Zack whom he was impressed by after seeing him perform in one of the clubs as a singer. They added drummer Brad Wilk whom Tom Morello knew and was looking for a bassist. Zack De La Rocha suggested his childhood friend Tim and thus the band was formed.
8. The quartet gave themselves the name "Rage Against The Machine".
8. The group whom we name the "Rage quartet", recorded 12 songs on a tape that bore the band's name, and tried to get a contract with a major record company. By the way, not all the songs from the tape will appear on the band's debut album - "Rage Against The Machine".
9. After the tape toured several offices and the group performed many shows in various clubs in Los Angeles for a year, the quartet signed a record contract with "Epic Records" which was the only one that agreed to all of the band's terms.
10. In 1992, the "Rage Quartet" released their debut album "Rage Against The Machine". The album received a lot of airplay on the radio stations with the first single released from the album "Killing in the Name" tearing up the airwaves. The album reached number one on the Billboard charts and number 45 on the Billboard 200. Just like the photo that captured a shocking moment and covers the album, the quartet shocked the music world and shook the world.
11. Despite many rumors about the dissolution of the "Rage Quartet", the quartet released their second album "Evil Empire". The album was very successful and took the first place on the "Billboard 200". The band performed with the song "Bulls on Parade" - the second single from the album on the TV series "SNL" and caused a great provocation and was subsequently banned from performing on the program due to the so-called "SNL Flags Incident".
12. In 1993 Tim adopted his greatest hobby Mountain Biking. He is a professional rider and very famous in the mountain bike industry. On one occasion it even affected his career when "Rage" had to cancel shows in 1995 after he broke his arm in a cycling accident.
13. In 1998 the band released their first live album "Live & Rare". A year later, the band participated in the famous "Woodstock '99" festival.
14. In 1999, the "Rage Quartet" released their third album "The Battle of Los Angeles". Here too, the album takes first place on the "Billboard 200", but in addition to that, it also gives the band a nomination for the Grammy Award in the "Best Rock Album" category. The album also entered "Rolling Stone's" list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, at number 426. This is the band's last album.
15. In 2000, the band filmed the famous music video for the song "Sleep Now in the Fire" which was filmed on the sidewalk at the entrance to the "New York Stock Exchange". The music video was 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 music video after they also tried to break into the stock market, they managed to stop the stock market from operating for several hours, a rare event!
16. Although the band announced their official breakup in October 2000 after Zack decided he was leaving the band, they released their covers album "Renegade" 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 Hil,l and "Devo".
17. After the disbandment of the "Rage Quartet", the trio decided to try to form a new band and find a replacement singer for 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 to group therapy. Rubin is also the one who invited Chris Cornell to the studio when the trio played there, because he was sure that it would be a pairing from heaven, and indeed it was!!
18. In 2002, the new quartet supergroup, which was called "Audioslave" released its debut album, called "Audioslave". The combination between Chris and the "Rage Trio" was simply huge, a deadly combination of talented and rough 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.
19. In 2005, the supergroup "Audioslave" released its second album "Out of Exile". It is the band's only album to reach number one on the "Billboard 200" and also earned the band their second "Grammy Award" nomination. The singles "Be Yourself", "Your Time Has Come", "Doesn't Remind Me" and "Out of Exile" were released from the album.
20. On May 6, 2005, the band made its historic appearance in "Cuba," the supergroup became the first American rock band in history to receive permission to perform live in "Cuba". The event was filmed and released on DVD in October 2005 and later also on the "Live In Cuba" album.
21. In 2006, the supergroup's third and final album titled "Revelations" was released, the album reached number 2 on the Billboard 200. The supergroup officially disbanded as a result of artistic differences it had with the "Rage Trio".
22. In 2007, the "Rage Quartet" (which included Zack) returned for a "one-off" performance at the "Coachella Music Festival". Fortunately, the performance was not a one-off and the band continued its performances at major festivals over the years to this day!! We are still praying that they will come to Israel because not all of us experienced the historic and crazy event that happened at the "Cinerama" club in the 90s.
23. In the same year Tim participated together with Brad Wilk in the album "V" Is for Vagina", of the band "Puscifer", led by Maynard James Keenan.
24. In 2013, Tim founded the band "Future User" together with Jordan Tarlow and Jon Knox. A progressive rock band that combined electronic elements and released one album in 2015 "SteroidsOrHeroin". The music video for the band's song "Voodoo Juju" is a kind of satirical criticism of the healthcare industry in the US, in which he plays a patient who is about to undergo spine surgery. Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Tom Morello participated in the music video, among others.
25. In the same year Tim participated together with Brad Wilk in the recording of the song "Time Slowing Down" as part of the project "Sound City" led by Dave Grohl.
26. Another band that Tim started was "Wakrat". A punk-rock band consisting of Mathias Wakrat and Laurent Grangeon as they release one album bearing the band's name.
27. 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".
28. In the same year "the prophets" released the mini-album "The Party's Over" and in 2017 they released their debut and only album bearing the group's name.
29. It can be said that Tim has the most extreme views among the "Rage Quartet", he is a devout believer in "conspiracy theory". He believes that there is a conspiracy or fake news in many events such as the landing on the moon or the existence of "ISIS" organization.
30. In 2022, Tim shared that he was battling prostate cancer and had his prostate removed two months before he went on tour with Rage.
31. On July 9, 2022, Rage Against the Machine played their first concert in 11 years at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. The show was supposed to be followed by a worldwide tour but it was canceled due to a leg injury de la Rocha sustained during a performance.
32. On January the band published a statement on social media, that they are done touring and playing live shows.