Rage Against the Machine Bassist Reveals Cancer Battle

Rage Against the Machine bassist Tim Commerford is battling prostate most cancers.

“I’ve been dealing with some pretty serious shit,” the 54-year-old musician informed Spin. “Right before I was about to go on tour with Rage, I had my prostate removed, and I have prostate cancer.”

The sculpted, high-octane Commerford mentioned he is at all times been “someone that’s taken a lot of pride in being in shape and taking care of myself but it’s something where … you’re either lucky or not.”

Rage Against the Machine launched the beforehand delayed Public Service Announcement tour in July, marking their first outing in additional than a decade. Commerford participated in the trek regardless of his docs’ predictions that he would not be match for the highway. “Two months before the tour, I had surgery and my doctors said I wasn’t going to be ready,” he mirrored. “That was brutal. I would be on stage looking at my amp in tears. Then you just kind of turn around and suck it up.”

They ended up slicing the tour brief after 19 exhibits when Zack de la Rocha struggled to beat a torn Achilles tendon he suffered throughout the second present of the tour. Rage had tried adapting their stage present, which additionally impacted Commerford.

“Because of Zack’s injury, we had planned these little video interstitials that came in between blocks of songs,” he defined. “We were meant to go on stage, play some songs, go off stage, and on to the interstitials for a few minutes. It was seamless. Then he got hurt and we couldn’t leave the stage. So during the interstitials, we’re just sitting there. That was surreal. I would sometimes sit down and try to not think about certain things. It was weird. I kept it to myself throughout the touring we did and it was brutal.”

Commerford mentioned his most cancers prognosis has taken him on a “brutal psychological journey” that is additionally concerned a few of the worst bodily ache he is ever skilled. For now, nevertheless, he is feeling wholesome and optimistic. “I just got my six-month test, and it came back at zero,” he mentioned. “I was like, ‘Fuck yeah!’ That’s the best I can feel for the rest of my life. Every day I get closer to that test is like, ‘Fuck man, is this going to be the time when the number is going to go up and I’m going to the next thing – whatever that is?’ I already went through some pain and shit, and I’m continuing to go through, like, some crazy shit.”

He’s additionally taken solace in music, together with his new facet mission 7D7D. The energy trio launched their first single, “Capitalism,” final month. “The glass is half-full. That’s the beauty of songwriting and bass playing,” Commerford mentioned. “When my mom was sick, that’s when I learned how to play bass. When I was on stage with Rage, there were times that I wasn’t thinking about cancer for moments. When I play in 7D7D with [drummer] Mathias [Wakrat] in the studio, I don’t care what we’re doing. I go into a trance, and I just completely forget about it. And it’s so beautiful.

“When I get up in the morning, it is like, ‘Oh, it is a new day. Dope!’ Then it is like, ‘Oh fuck, I’ve most cancers’ – and you may’t cease it,” Commerford continued. “It places a darkish cloud on the day. When I’m going jam with Mathias, I simply tune out and it feels so good. Music has at all times been there in the hardest of occasions.”