Rage Against The Machine’s Tim Commerford Has Cancer

Rage Against The Machine bassist Tim Commerford has revealed that he was diagnosed with cancer. During a recent interview with Spin, Commerford explained that he found out he had prostate cancer “right before” the band’s recent tour. He had surgery just two months before heading out on the road.

“I’ve been dealing with some pretty serious s—,” he said. “Right before I was about to go on tour with Rage, I had my prostate removed, and I have prostate cancer.” Commerford, 54, added that his girlfriend was a major support throughout his diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. “I’ve been someone that’s taken a lot of pride in being in shape and taking care of myself,” he also said. “But it’s something where either you’re either lucky or not.” He also stated that prior to his Spin interview, the only people who knew about his cancer battle were his partner, bandmates, and a few very close friends.

Offering some insight into his outlook on life, Commerford said, “You can find yourself in a situation like I’m in where it’s like, f—, my whole life changed. With everything that happens to me now, I wonder, am I feeling this way because I have cancer? Am I losing my hair because I have cancer? Whatever it is, it makes me wonder if it’s happening because I have cancer.”

He continued, “And 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.”

Commerford went on to say, “I have metal plates in my head and cadaver parts in my body. I’ve done a lot of damage through sports and mountain biking and this sort of thing and I’ve always felt like I had a really high tolerance for pain, and that s— brought me to my knees. After the pain went away, I still haven’t really been able to get up, even though I’m working out and doing s—, but psychologically, the damage is severe. It’s very hard for me to not break down and get emotional.”

While the diagnosis has changed his life forever, Commerford has done his best to keep a positive mental attitude. “Everything happens for a reason, and that’s what I always tell myself,” he said. “That’s what a lot of people say, but I really believe that. It’s been hard for me to imagine cancer and getting anything good out of it. But there’s this little light at the end of the tunnel that I’m seeing right now where I feel like I can get some really solid goodness from it in other areas.” 

“I hope there’s one person who reads this and is like, ‘F—, I need to get checked out’ when they find out about it. It’s going to be OK because they found out about it, and for me, that’s good enough.” Click here to read Commerford’s complete interview at Spin.