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Brad Wilk | |
|---|---|
 Wilk performing inLisbon, Portugal in 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1968-09-05)September 5, 1968 (age 57) Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Drummer |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Formerly of | |
Spouse | |
Brad Wilk (born September 5, 1968) is an American drummer. He is best known as a member of the rock bandsRage Against the Machine (1991–2000, 2007–2011, 2019–2024),Audioslave (2001–2007, 2017), andProphets of Rage (2016–2019).
Wilk started his career as a drummer forGreta in 1990, and helped co-found Rage Against the Machine withTom Morello andZack de la Rocha in August 1991. Following that band's breakup in October 2000, Wilk, Morello, Rage Against the Machine bassistTim Commerford andSoundgarden frontmanChris Cornell formed the supergroup Audioslave, which broke up in 2007. From 2016 to 2019, he played in the band Prophets of Rage, with Commerford, Morello,Chuck D,B-Real andDJ Lord. He has played with Rage Against the Machine since their reunion.
Wilk has also performed drums on English metal bandBlack Sabbath's final album13, released in June 2013. He tried out forPearl Jam shortly after the release of their debut albumTen and had previously been in the band Indian Style withEddie Vedder.[1]
Wilk was born on September 5, 1968, inPortland, Oregon.[2][better source needed] He was raised inChicago, Illinois, before his family settled inSouthern California. He started to play the drums when he was thirteen years old. Wilk attendedWilliam Howard Taft High School, in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, and graduated in 1986. While the high school was in an upper middle-class neighborhood, as part of LAUSD, hundreds of students (including rapper and actor Ice Cube) from lower-income and more racially diverse neighborhoods attended Taft High School through a busing program. In terms of music, he has citedJohn Bonham,Keith Moon,Neil Peart, andElvin Jones as his greatest influences.[3] Wilk was a fan ofVan Halen in his youth.[4]
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Wilk's success as the drummer ofRage Against the Machine came from the failure of a different band; he once auditioned for a band calledLock Up, who released one album (titledSomething Bitchin' This Way Comes) through Geffen records in 1989 and broke up when the album received little media attention upon release. Former Lock Up guitaristTom Morello was looking to pick up where Lock Up left off and start a new band, and contacted Wilk, who was playing with the bandGreta, to see if he was interested in playing the drums. A short while after, the duo metZack de la Rocha while he was rapping freestyle in a club, and through him, bassistTim Commerford (a childhood friend of de la Rocha). The band played two shows in 1991, and spent 1992 frequenting the L. A. club circuit, during which they signed a record deal withEpic Records, and released theirself-titled debut album that November. They quickly achieved commercial success and would go on to release three more studio albums–Evil Empire in 1996,The Battle of Los Angeles in 1999, andRenegades in 2000– before disbanding in October 2000.
Rage Against the Machine reunited to play at theCoachella Music Festival inCoachella, California on January 22, 2007. On April 29, 2007, Rage Against the Machine reunited at the Coachella Music Festival (Rage Against the Machine reunion tour). The band played in front of an EZLN backdrop to the largest crowds of the festival. Initially thought to be a one-time event, the band played seven more shows that year in the United States (including their first non-festival concert in seven years at theAlpine Valley Music Theater inEast Troy, Wisconsin), and in January 2008, they played their first shows outside of the U.S. as part of the Big Day Out Festival in Australia and New Zealand. The band continued to tour around the world, headlining many large festivals in Europe and the United States, including Lollapalooza in Chicago. After a brief South America tour in 2010, they created their own festival, LA Rising, which they headlined on July 30, 2011. In November 2012, they released aXX anniversary boxset of their first album. In April 2014, Wilk indicated LA Rising would be Rage's final show.[5]
On November 1, 2019, it was reported that Rage Against the Machine would be reuniting a second time, and were to perform at the 2020Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival before it was canceled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[6] On February 10, 2020, the band announced dates and locations for their worldwidePublic Service Announcement Tour,[7] which was postponed due to the pandemic.[8] On January 3, 2024 Wilk announced that the band will not be touring or playing live again.[9] Confirming the band had once again disbanded.
After de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine in October 2000, the remaining members formedAudioslave with formerSoundgarden frontmanChris Cornell.[10] The band released theirself-titled debut album in 2002. Their second album,Out of Exile, was released in 2005 and debuted at the number one position on theBillboard 200.[11] It was followed byRevelations in 2006. Compared to Rage Against the Machine, the majority of Audioslave's music was apolitical. After several months of inactivity, Audioslave formally disbanded in February 2007 when Cornell left to focus on his solo career.[12]
In 2016, Wilk reunited with Morello and Commerford, joiningChuck D,B-Real andDJ Lord to form the supergroupProphets of Rage. The band played original material as well as covers of songs byRage Against the Machine,Public Enemy andCypress Hill. Their debut tour was entitled "Make America Rage Again" to protestDonald Trump's policies and the 2016 American presidential election.[13]
During its three years, the band released one EP in 2016,The Party's Over,[14] and oneeponymous full-length studio album in 2017.[15] Prophets of Rage disbanded in 2019 with the confirmation of the2020 reunion of Rage Against the Machine.[16]
Having established himself as a session musician, Wilk has also contributed drums on theBlack Sabbath album13, which was released in June 2013.[17] In late 2013, Wilk joined the bandThe Last Internationale and recently recorded their debut album calledWe Will Reign with producer Brendan O'Brien. The record was released in August 2014.[18]
To the end of 2014 until June 2015, Brad Wilk was playing drums on tour with theSmashing Pumpkins along withBilly Corgan,Jeff Schroeder and alsoMark Stoermer on bass. On February 26, 2015, while touring Australia with the band, he joined theFoo Fighters on stage at Sydney's Olympic (ANZ) stadium playing drums for aVan Halen coverAin't Talkin' 'bout Love. On August 3, 2015, Wilk sat-in with The 8G Band onLate Night with Seth Meyers.[19]
Wilk was diagnosed withtype 1 diabetes in 1997, and is active in raising money for diabetes awareness.[20] He has donated about $12,000 to the Orange County chapter of theJuvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).[21]
Wilk developedOlade, a sugar-free lemonade, whichFood and Drug Administration in 2009 approved as a non-dietary supplement.[22]
Wilk was married toSelene Vigil, with whom he had two children. She filed for divorce in 2013.[23]
Rage Against the Machine studio albums Main article:Rage Against the Machine discography
| Audioslave studio albums Main article:Audioslave discography
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Black Sabbath studio albums Main article:Black Sabbath discography
| The Last Internationale studio albums Main article:The Last Internationale
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Prophets of Rage studio albums
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| Studio albums | |
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| DVDs | |
| Singles | |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
