Rage Against The Machine’s Tim Commerford on living with prostate cancer: “I’m the strongest I’ve ever been”

Rage Against The Machine bassist Tim Commerford has opened up about his experience of living with prostate cancer, saying he’s “the strongest [he’s] ever been”.

The 56-year-old musician confirmed his diagnosis in 2022, saying that he had his prostate removed just before Rage were about to go on tour. “Now I’m in the situation that I’m in, which is, hold your breath for six months,” Commerford said at the time.

“It’s not a good one and not one that I’m happy about. I’m just trying to grab ahold of the reins. It’s gonna be a long journey, I hope.”

He added: “My dad died in his early 70s from cancer and my mom died from cancer in her 40s. Split the difference to 65 and I’ve got 10 years. I’m trying to get to the 100-song mark – I have some goals now.”

During a new interview with TotalRock, Commerford spoke about his almost three-year cancer journey. “I’m the strongest I’ve ever been in my life,” he explained (via Blabbermouth).

“I’m 56 years old. And I’m artistic, and I’m focused on that, and I’m proud of it. I’ve always been very proud of being fit as an older person, because most people that are my age are not; that’s the truth of it. And I feel really good about that.”

The bassist, who also plays in the band 7D7D, recalled how he was “broken” when he found out he had cancer. “It took me a couple of years before I could even discuss cancer without just getting emotional, crying about it,” he said.

“But what brought me over the edge with that and made me not have to cry all the time was the physicality of, like, ‘Yo, yeah, I’m sick’. Like, I have a cadaver hamstring tendon that’s in my shoulder that the doctor’s, like, ‘Well, your shoulder is only gonna be 75 per cent as strong on the left as it is on the right’. And I’m, like, well, then if I get 200 per cent stronger than I would have gotten, then I’ll be 125 per cent stronger.”

As for how he hopes to inspire those who fear they may have the disease to take action, Commerford added: “I tell people, like, look, if your number, your PSA number, which is what it’s called, if that number is going up, if your doctor says your PSA is rising a little, get an expert, go to an expert.

“At that point in time, find someone that knows everything about it that’s an expert in prostate cancer that does it. That’s what I didn’t do. And mine I found out about through health insurance. I had to do a health insurance test, and they found it early.

He went on: “And I went to a doctor, and she watched it rise, and then finally went, ‘Oh, now it’s up to this point. You need to have surgery. You have cancer’. ‘What?’ ‘Oh yeah. We have to remove your prostate.’ ‘Really?’ ‘Oh yeah. And your cancer got out of your prostate a little tiny bit. So that means it escaped into my body’. When they normally capture it, it’s in the capsule. They take the prostate, it takes the cancer.”

The former Audioslave member then reiterated that it is “very important” to “go to an expert” straight away to ensure an early diagnosis. “Had I been at an expert earlier on, they would have done an MRI and they would have then seen the location of the cancer and then I would have been able to take it out in the capsule, and I’d be better off,” he said.

You can watch the full interview in the video above.

Commerford had previously confirmed that he gets “tested every three months”, and was living “a different life now” as a result of the disease.

Rage Against The Machine played the final show of their ‘Public Service Announcement’ tour at New York’s Madison Square Garden in August 2022.

Earlier this year, Commerford admitted that he was uncertain about the current state of the band after drummer Brad Wilk suggested they had split up. “I don’t know,” the bassist said. “I don’t get involved in that.”

Commerford embarked on a UK and European tour with 7D7D recently. He has previously described the side-project as “a trio that’s changed the way I feel and enjoy music”.