Rage Against The Machine’s Tim Commerford has revealed his prostate cancer diagnosis: “I’ve been dealing with some pretty serious shit.”
Tim Commerford, bassist for Rage Against The Machine opened up about his ongoing private battle with prostate cancer during an interview with SPIN published Monday (December 12): “I’ve been dealing with some pretty serious shit,” he began. “Right before I was about to go on tour with Rage, I had my prostate removed, and I have prostate cancer.”
News of Commerford’s diagnosis arrives a mere two months after Rage Against The Machine were obligated to cancel their North American tour, due to an injury sustained by frontman, Zack de la Rocha.
Before the new interview, the 54-year-old musician had only made his cancer diagnosis known to a select few, including his family, close friends and bandmates. Commerford declared, “I’ve been someone that’s taken a lot of pride in being in shape and taking care of myself. But it’s something where either you’re either lucky or not.”
Elaborating on his condition, the bassist said: “Prostate cancer is a very, very, very tough one because it’s connected to your sexuality. It’s hard to disconnect from that and when you’re forced into that situation, it’s a brutal psychological journey. I’ve been trying to find support groups, and it’s hard to find people and hard to talk about it. The suffering part of it, the physical suffering after the surgery, I’ve never felt pain quite like that.”
Despite the intensely challenging situation, Commerford expressed his will to see “the glass half-full,” and shared excitement over his project with 7D7D, a trio he founded and launched in November, alongside Mathias Wakrat and Jonny Polonsky: “Just try to see how good I can do against that adversary, you know?” said the bassist. “It’s tough, man, but I have a great support system.”
He continued, “When I play in 7D7D with Mathias 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 wake up in the morning, it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s a new day. Dope!’ Then it’s like, ‘Oh fuck, I have cancer’ and you can’t stop it. It puts a dark cloud on the day. When I go jam with Mathias, I just tune out and it feels so good. Music has always been there in the toughest of times.”
