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If you ask both members of Rage Against The Machine’s rhythm section about the band’s future, you’ll get two different answers. Rage haven’t done anything as a band since 2022, when they wrapped up what was supposed to be the first leg of their latest reunion tour. Because Zack De La Rocha tore his Achilles tendon during the show’s second show, the band cancelled the rest of the tour. When Rage were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last year, only Tom Morello showed up. On Instagram last month, drummer Brad Wilk wrote, “I want to let you know that RATM (Tim, Zack, Tom and I) will not be touring or playing live again.” But bassist Tim Commerford isn’t sure.
I’m not being coy here. Tim Commerford literally does not know whether Rage Against The Machine’s reunion is over. Commerford has a new trio called 7D7D, and they’ve released a few singles since 2022. Right now, they’re planning to tour, and Commerford recently spoke to Rolling Stone about his new venture. When the magazine asked about whether RATM are really finished, Commerford gave them a pretty great quote:
I don’t know. I don’t get involved in that. 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.
After the second leg of the Rage tour was cancelled, Commerfield revealed that he’s been battling prostate cancer and that he had his prostate removed two months before the tour started. In the Rolling Stone interview, Commerford says that his recovery is going well but that his cancer has changed his life permanently:
I call myself Cancer Man. I’m 57, and I’m in the best shape of my life. The cancer will never be gone, though. It’s always going to be there. When you have prostate cancer, they test your PSA [Prostate-Specific Antigen] level. I’m at a zero right now. But I get tested every three months. I’m going to be really stressed before the next test. This is a different life now. It changed who I am, and in a lot of ways for the better. It slowed me down. It made me just take my time a little bit more on just noticing the world
Tim Commerford says he’s ready to play shows if Rage Against The Machine ever get going again. For now, though, he wants to do different things with 7D7D: “I want to play at the fuckin’ bowling alley. I want to play at coffee houses. I want to go out there and do this and not be the guy from Rage as much as I can be that.” You can read the Rolling Stone feature here.