Tom Morello Plays ‘Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?’
We’ve got another legend debunking Wikipedia in the latest edition of our signature series. This time, Rage Against the Machine / Audioslave / Prophets of Rage guitarist Tom Morello confirms or clarifies what’s written about him online.
It's true that he used to work as an exotic dancer; however, it’s not true that he went by the pseudonym “Meat Swinger." Morello actually didn’t have a stripper moniker, but he did reveal his intention behind exploring this line of work — he was raising money for a hot tub.
Before becoming a revolutionary guitarist, Morello considered a life in politics, working at the office of the late U.S. Senator Alan Cranston. Tom decided to quit the gig after an altercation with a woman who called in complaining that Mexicans were moving into her neighborhood. Morello told her to go to hell but was scolded for how he handled the situation. “If I’m in a job where I can’t tell racists to go to hell, I need a different job,” Morello recalls.
Wikipedia's timeline was chronologically incorrect, it’s true that Morello was in a band called the Electric Sheep with Tool’s Adam Jones, who played bass at the time. Describing the act, he called their songs “very Brett Kavanaugh.” “It was pretty sexist,” Morello admits. “I wish there was a little more rebellion and a little less [sexism]. We were all virgins, by the way. We sort of wrote as if we were Mick Jagger and we were certainly not.”
Watch the Tom Morello episode of ‘Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?’ in the clip above and be sure to grab a copy of Morello’s new Atlas Underground album.
Top 66 Hard Rock + Metal Guitarists of All Time