Thomas Baptist Morello born May 30, is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is known for his tenure with the rock bands Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Between and , Morello was a member of the supergroup Prophets of Rage.
Born in Harlem, New York , and raised in Libertyville, Illinois , Morello became interested in music and politics while in high school. The two founded Rage Against the Machine, going on to become one of the most popular and influential metal acts of the s. He is best known for his unique and creative guitar playing style, which incorporates feedback noise, unconventional picking, and tapping , as well as heavy use of guitar effects.
Morello is known for his socialist political views and activism; creating the Nightwatchman offered an outlet for his views while playing apolitical music with Audioslave. He was ranked number 18 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of greatest guitarists of all time. His mother was a schoolteacher from Marseilles, Illinois , who earned a Master of Arts at Loyola University, Chicago and traveled to Germany , Spain , Japan , and Kenya as an English language teacher between and Morello's father participated in the Mau Mau Uprising β and was Kenya's first ambassador to the United Nations.
Morello's parents met in August while attending a pro-democracy protest in Nairobi, Kenya. Denying paternity of his son, Njoroge returned to his native Kenya when Morello was 16 months old. Morello developed left-leaning political proclivities early, following in his mother's footsteps.
He described himself as having been "the only anarchist in a conservative high school", and has since identified as a nonsectarian socialist. In the mock elections at Libertyville, he campaigned for a fictitious anarchist "candidate" named Hubie Maxwell, who came in fourth place in the election.
