Biography

Brad Wilk (born September 5, 1968 in Portland, Oregon) is an American drummer. He lived in Chicago in his childhood, and then later settled in Southern California. Wilk started to play the drums when he was 13 years old and got his first kit when he was 14. After placing an advertisement in a local newspaper Wilk joined Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Zach De La Rocha to form Rage Against the Machine. They went on to release four albums before breaking up in 2000. Wilk, Morello and Commerford went on to form Audioslave with former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell. Brad is a Buddhist, and is seen by many as being very grounded and compassionate. He is also a Type 1 Diabetic, and has said in a recent interview with Countdown magazine, that if he were not making music, he would be finding a cure for the disease.

Brad’s success as the drummer of Rage Against the Machine came from the failure of a different band; he once auditioned for a band called Lock Up, who released one album (titled Somethin’ Bitchin’ This Way Comes) through Geffen records in 1989 and broke up when the album received little media attention upon release. Former Lock Up guitarist Tom Morello was looking to pick up where Lock Up left off and start a new band, and called up Brad to see if he was interested in playing the drums. A short while after, the duo met Zack de la Rocha, a rapper, and through de la Rocha met bassist Tim Commerford (a childhood friend of Zack’s) and Rage Against the Machine was born.

When Zack De La Rocha left Rage Against the Machine in late 2000, Brad and the two remaining members, Tom Morello and Tim Commerford, opted to stay together to form a new rock band. Producer Rick Rubin suggested they have a jam session with former Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell. The meeting was an immediate success and they subsequently formed a band called Civilian, which was later renamed Audioslave. Brad Wilk has been the drummer of Audioslave since its formation in 2001.