Tim Commerford of Rage Against The Machine announces prostate cancer diagnosis
The legendary bass player of Rage Against The Machine, Tim Commerford, has announced the sad news that he is battling against prostate cancer. Prior to revealing the news in an interview with Spin, Commerford had only told his family, his fellow bandmates and a close group of friends.
Commerford said, “I’ve been dealing with some pretty serious shit. Right before I was about to go on tour with Rage, I had my prostate removed, and I have prostate cancer. 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.”
He added: “You can find yourself in a situation like I’m in where it’s like, fuck, 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. 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.”
Commerford is currently working hard with his new outfit, 7D7D, who just put out their first single, ‘Capitalism’. Of course, the iconic musician is also working with Rage Against The Machine but was unable to join them on their recent Public Service Announcement Tour. It truly has been a distressing time.
“I’ve been trying to find support groups, and it’s hard to find people and hard to talk about it,” Commerford added. “The suffering part of it, the physical suffering after the surgery, I’ve never felt pain quite like that. 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 shit 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 shit, but psychologically, the damage is severe. It’s very hard for me to not break down and get emotional.”
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