Tom Morello American musician, guitarist Date of Birth: 30.05.1964 Country: USA

Biography of Tom Morello

Tom Morello, a famous American musician and guitarist, is best known for his work with the band 'Rage Against the Machine'. Born Thomas Baptiste Morello in 1964 in Harlem, New York, he comes from a mixed Sicilian and Irish background from his mother's side and Kenyan heritage from his father's side. His mother was an art teacher with a degree from Loyola University in Chicago, while his father was the first Kenyan ambassador to the United Nations and a revolutionary. However, his father disowned him when Tom was just 16 months old and returned to Kenya, leaving Tom to be raised by his mother. They lived in Libertyville, Illinois, where Tom attended school, with his mother as his history teacher.

From a young age, Tom was drawn to the performing arts, particularly theater, and sang in a choir. At the age of 16-17, he developed a keen interest in politics and later mentioned in an interview that "politics found him" as he was the only African-American in his district. He went on to study sociology at Harvard University before moving to Los Angeles, where he worked odd jobs including performing exotic dances in Hollywood. Tom recalled that during this time, he experienced hunger and took on any work that came his way. Eventually, things improved, and in 1987-88, he worked in the office of Democratic Senator Alan Cranston. However, politics did not captivate Tom, and he never returned to it.

Tom started singing in a band at the age of 13 and learned to play the guitar. In the mid-1980s, he formed his own band called 'Electric Sheep'. Even then, the band's lyrics had political undertones, and Tom's musical tastes at the time leaned towards hard rock and heavy metal, with 'Kiss' and 'Iron Maiden' as his idols. Later, his musical preferences shifted towards punk rock with influences from 'The Clash', 'The Sex Pistols', and 'Devo'.

In 1991, Tom Morello founded the band 'Rage Against the Machine', inspired by Mexican rapper Zack de la Rocha. Their self-titled debut album, released in the same year, achieved triple-platinum status, and the song 'Killing In The Name' became their most famous track. 'Rage Against the Machine' has released four studio albums, several live albums, and compilations. The band gained widespread popularity, with each of their albums and singles charting on the 'Billboard' charts. Tom himself was recognized as one of the "100 Greatest Guitarists" by 'Rolling Stone' magazine and won a Grammy Award. Besides his work with 'Rage Against the Machine', Tom has released several solo albums under the pseudonym The Nightwatchman. He has also collaborated with 'Audioslave' and his latest project is the band 'Street Sweeper Social Club', which released two albums in 2009 and 2010. Tom Morello co-founded the non-profit organization 'Axis of Justice' with Serj Tankian.

In addition to his music career, Morello has appeared in films, writes comics, and is actively involved in social activities. It is known that he is a vegetarian and is married to Denise, with whom he has two sons.