Tim Commerford Isn't Sure If Rage Against the Machine Are Still a Band

"Bass players always are the last people to find out about shit like that"

BY Alex HudsonPublished Feb 23, 2024

Are Rage Against the Machine still a band? No one knows — not even bassist Tim Commerford, who has revealed that he doesn't know what the rap-rock group's status is.

Earlier this year, drummer Brad Wilk said that the band "will not be touring or playing live again" following an ill-fated reunion that was sidelined by pandemic delays and vocalist Zack de la Rocha's torn Achilles tendon.

"I don't get involved in that," Commerford told Rolling Stone about whether the band would play again. "I'm the bass player. I just wait for someone to tell me what to do. Brad said what he said, but he's one step above me. He's in the number three spot. I am the low man on the totem pole. That's all I can tell you. I'm the bass player. The bass players always are the last people to find out about shit like that."

As for the real reason Rage cancelled their 2023 shows, he also isn't sure, because his prostate cancer diagnosis meant that his focus wasn't on the band. "At that time with Rage, I was not there," he said. "I was very emotional, and that was the hardest part. It wasn't like the physical side. It was the psychological aspect of accepting that you have cancer. I was turning my back to my amp, and just fighting back tears."

It all sounds a bit like the time Matt Skiba wasn't sure if he was still in blink-182 — and we all know how that worked out.

Latest Coverage