Tim Commerford

Timothy Robert Commerford (born February 26, 1968) is an American musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist for the American rap metal band Rage Against the Machine (1991–2000; 2007–2011) and the now-defunct supergroup Audioslave (2001–2007). Since 2013 and 2015, he has been the lead singer and bassist of the bands Future User and Wakrat, respectively.

He was ranked eighth on Paste magazine's list of "20 Underrated Bass Guitarists" in 2014.

Biography

Timothy Robert Commerford was born on February 26, 1968 in Irvine, California, the youngest of six children. His father, an aerospace engineer, worked on the Space Shuttle, and his mother was a teacher/mathematician. He is of French and Irish descent. In the fifth grade, he met future bandmate Zack de la Rocha. Around this time, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. Shortly thereafter, his father divorced and remarried. Commerford stayed with his father, while his mother moved to Sacramento, California to live with her sister while seeking treatment. During this time, de la Rocha introduced him to bass, and Commerford soon found an outlet in music and poetry, playing bass in the band Juvenile Expression. Commerford's mother died of brain cancer in 1988.

Tim & Bob

Tim & Bob (Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson), also known as Funktwons, are Grammy Award-winning songwriting musicians and a Hip-hop/R&B production duo. Tim & Bob have discovered and or worked on some of the biggest artists in the music industry and has helped develop the Atlanta music scene as it is widely known for today. They have won three Grammy Awards amongst twelve nominations and have sold more than 400 million albums worldwide making them one of the most successful producer duos in music history. They are among the most consistent urban producers in the last 18 years, earning a spot on Billboard's top ten list of producers almost every year since 1998.

Biography

Growing up in Peoria, Illinois, Tim was raised on R&B through his father's band. His father was a trumpet player and multi-instrumentalist so Tim learned trumpet, piano, guitar, drums and bass at the age of 10. From elementary school through college, Tim played the trumpet and piano in school band.

Bob played in his church as an organist and piano player from the age of 9, so he brought an understanding of gospel music to the duo. Tim met Bob through a mutual friend at the local mall. The two worked together at Tim's house in the basement, recording music on equipment purchased by Tim's mother. They moved to New Orleans for a year then went to Chicago and Detroit where they established a small production company with a studio. They worked with George Clinton's backing vocalist Paul Hill to perfect demo recordings intended for producer Dallas Austin in Atlanta.