‘A Dark Passenger’: Rage Against The Machine’s Tim Commerford Opens Up About Living With Prostate Cancer

Two years after disclosing his cancer diagnosis, Rage Against The Machine bassist Tim Commerford has provided an update on his health. In a recent interview with the U.K.’s The Sound Lab, Commerford discussed his nearly three-year journey with prostate cancer and shared insights on his current condition.

Commerford first revealed his prostate cancer diagnosis in 2022, explaining to SPIN that it was discovered during a life insurance application process. Elevated PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels led to further testing, and a biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. Before Rage Against the Machine’s reunion tour in the summer of 2022, doctors performed surgery to remove his prostate.

“I’m 56 and I’m feeling good. I have cancer and I’m no longer crying about it,” explained Commerford, as per Blabbermouth. “That’s a huge thing for me. And to couple that with like being in a band and being proud of it and challenging myself, I feel like my life is full right now and I like it.”

The band Commerford referred to is 7D7D, his trio with guitarist Jonny Polonsky and drummer Mathias Wakrat. 7D7D’s latest single is “Ouchi,” a live track released back in April.

Tim Commerford was asked for an update regarding his cancer diagnosis. Commerford said the following:

“I mean, I have it. It’s one of those things. And people will sometimes ask, ‘Is it gone?’ And it’s, like, cancer — I don’t care if you have skin cancer or prostate cancer or lung cancer, and let’s say you get treatment and it goes into remission, you’re not ever going to be saying, ‘Cool, it’s gone. It’s gone. I’m not gonna get it.’ You’re always gonna have it. It’s a dark passenger that you carry with you and you worry about and you have to get checkups and these sort of things. So it’s always there.

“There was about a two-year period where — I wouldn’t have been able to do this interview a few years ago, because I would have just gotten too emotional. You would ask me about cancer and I would have started crying and that was the hardest thing. That was harder than any of the treatment or anything. It was, like, ‘Whoa, am I gonna be crying now everywhere I go? Is that gonna be the way it is?’ And somewhere along the line, because I stay in shape, I’m proud of that, and I do a lot of exercising and I’m staying in really good shape, I think, and for a 56-year-old dude, I feel like I’m in really good shape. For a dude with cancer, I feel like I’m in really good shape. And so those two things really have empowered me.

“I used to know this guy. I have a cadaver hamstring tendon in my shoulder. So I got surgery on my shoulder one time and the doctor was, like, ‘Your shoulder is gonna be 75 percent as strong, your left shoulder as your right shoulder,’ and this man that I knew, he’s this old guy, he’s, like, ‘Well, so you can work it out 200 percent more than you would have and it’s still gonna be 125 percent stronger than it would have been.’ And so that’s how I live my life. And so here I am with cancer and I’m out just challenging myself physically and artistically. And it’s empowered me — to be able to have cancer and do these things is something that I’m proud of. And so I’ve turned this really negative thing that made me cry into something that I’m actually proud of who I am and what I’m doing right now with it. Is it gonna make me live longer, cancer? I don’t think so, but I’m gonna get 200 percent stronger and see.”

Rage Against The Machine disbanded for a third time earlier this year. The band, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2023, last performed live in 2022. RATM canceled dates on their Public Service Announcement Tour after frontman Zack de la Rocha suffered a leg injury on the second stop of the trek.

Watch Tim Commerford’s chat with The Sound Lab below: