Tom Morello's Real Name: Tom Morello

Quick answer: Tom Morello's real name is Tom Morello. He is an American guitarist, born May 30, 1964, in Harlem, New York, later a member of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave.

Real name and early life

He is known professionally as Tom Morello. Independent publishers used here record that public name rather than a longer legal form, so the public name is used in the title. AllMusic's profile header dates the birth to May 30, 1964, in New York, New York, and its biographical text specifies Harlem. Louder independently quotes him saying he was born in Harlem, New York, on May 30, 1964. AllMusic says he was raised by his mother in Libertyville, Illinois. Louder independently says that after his parents split up when he was about 18 months old, his mother, Mary Morello, got a teaching job in Libertyville, where he was brought up. Louder, alone among the sources cited here, says his father is Ngethe Njoroge, and that his parents met in Nairobi, Kenya, before moving to Harlem.

AllMusic says he was almost entirely self-taught on guitar and learned the most about the instrument while practicing up to eight hours a day during a stint at Harvard University, where he majored in political science. Louder independently refers to his Harvard degree.

Career highlights

AllMusic says that after graduation he relocated to the Los Angeles area and that by the late 1980s he was a member of Lock Up, who issued a lone Geffen album in 1989 before breaking up. It says Rage Against the Machine were born in 1991, with Morello joined by vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist Tim Commerford, and drummer Brad Wilk, and that the group released a self-titled album in 1992, Evil Empire in 1996, The Battle of Los Angeles in 1999, and the covers album Renegades in 2000. AllMusic says de la Rocha left shortly before that fourth album's release, after which Morello and the remaining members enlisted former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell in Audioslave, issuing three Top Ten albums from 2002 to 2006 before disbanding in 2007.

AllMusic also identifies a solo folk guise, the Nightwatchman, with a 2007 debut album One Man Revolution, and lists him as a member of Prophets of Rage. Louder independently discusses the Nightwatchman as a solo acoustic project and names Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets of Rage among his groups.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Tom Morello or the Nightwatchman are looking for the same American guitarist. Independent sources support the public name used in the title.