Tim Commerford | |
|---|---|
 Commerford in 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | |
| Born | Timothy Commerford (1968-02-26)February 26, 1968 (age 57) Irvine, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Labels | |
| Member of | |
| Formerly of | |
Spouse | |
| Website | ratm |
Timothy Commerford[2] (born February 26, 1968) is an American musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist for rock bandRage Against the Machine andsupergroupsAudioslave andProphets of Rage. Since 2013 and 2015, respectively, he has also been the lead singer and bassist of the bandsFuture User andWakrat.
He was ranked eighth onPaste magazine's list of "20 Underrated Bass Guitarists" in 2014.[3]
Commerford was born on February 26, 1968, inIrvine, California.[4] Growing up, he was a fan ofRush,Gene Simmons,Sid Vicious,Steve Harris, andGeddy Lee.[5]
 | This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Tim Commerford" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
After de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine, music producerRick Rubin suggested the three remaining members of Rage get together with then-formerSoundgarden singerChris Cornell, and "see what happens".[6] The newly formedAudioslave later released their eponymous debut album in November 2002,[7] which would attain triple platinum status.[8]
Commerford co-founded the bandFuture User, together with Jordan Tarlow (keys),Jon Knox (drums) and producerBrendan O'Brien (guitars). Commerford plays bass and is the vocalist of the band. Commerford hid several months under the S.W.I.M persona on the first music videos, before unmasking himself in the "Mountain Lion" video.[9] The "Mountain Lion" video featured road racing cyclistLance Armstrong, a close friend of Commerford,[10] while a skateboarding Commerford appears to inject himself with asteroid.[11][12]
In 2015, he formed "punk andhardcore-influenced band", namedWakrat. The band also features drummer Mathias Wakrat and guitarist Laurent Grangeon. The band debuted their first single, "Knucklehead", in September 2015.[13]
In 2022, Commerford launched a new project, 7D7D, with Mathias Wakrat andJonny Polonsky. The group debuted their first single, "Capitalism", in November.[1]
Commerford and drummerBrad Wilk contributed toMaynard James Keenan's side projectPuscifer and his album"V" Is for Vagina on the track "Momma Sed". Both have taken part in the production ofDave Grohl's 2013Sound Citysoundtrack, with the track "Time Slowing Down". In 2010, Commerford was interviewed and appeared in the documentaryRush: Beyond the Lighted Stage.[14]
In 2001, Commerford married his longtime girlfriend, Aleece Dimas. They have two sons together. In November 2018, the couple announced they were divorcing, finalizing their divorce five years later in 2024.[15]
Commerford is a self-described "conspiracy theorist". In aRolling Stone interview in 2015, he claimed thatthe Moon landing was faked and he confrontedBuzz Aldrin about it at aJohn Cusack movie premiere. In the same interview, Commerford also stated that he does not believeISIS is real and cast doubt upon theISIS beheading videos:[16][17]
They're not real. They're high-def. They have a soundtrack. The parts of those videos that you couldn't fake are edited out. At first, I thought it was edited out by our government so our kids wouldn't be seeing it on the Internet, but no. That's the way those videos came. The knife starts to cut the neck, and then it fades out. There's too much stuff that doesn't look real. They've edited out the parts that would be too hard to fake. We createdJihadi John and ISISso we can go drop bombs.[16]
In December 2022, Commerford revealed he had been diagnosed withprostate cancer earlier in the year, and had undergone surgery prior to going on tour with Rage Against the Machine that summer.[18]
Commerford plays bass with his fingers and prefers not to use apick, explaining, "I don't play with a pick at all.Chris Squire is the only pick player that I like. I don't even consider using a pick on the bass as bass playing; that's more like playing guitar on the bass. But (Squire) had that that kind of pick/thumb together that made this just unbelievable sound. Like 'Roundabout,' the bass sound on that is still one of my favorite bass sounds of all time, just the tone of it. But fingers are the only way to fly for me, man."[19]
Commerford has been using variousMusic Man StingRay basses since 2016, a brand he has liked since his beginnings with Rage Against The Machine.[20] MusicMan released several custom Artist Series basses in 2021 and 2024.[21][22] He previously usedFender Jazz Basses withFender Precision Bass necks andLakland basses.[23]
Rage Against the Machine Main article:Rage Against the Machine discography
Audioslave Main article:Audioslave discography
| Future User
Wakrat
Prophets of Rage
|
|
I like Jazz basses. I've been playing Jazz basses with Precision Bass necks, and I'm almost thinking that I want to switch to Jazz Bass necks, because I have one regular Jazz Bass out here on tour and I end up playing that one because it's the most comfortable one for me.
| Studio albums | |
|---|---|
| DVDs | |
| Singles | |
| Related articles | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
