Zack de la Rocha's Real Name: Zack de la Rocha

Quick answer: The singer performs under his own name, Zack de la Rocha. AllMusic and Encyclopaedia Britannica both give his birth date as January 12, 1970, in Long Beach, California, and both identify him as the vocalist of Rage Against the Machine. Neither source records a longer legal given name.

Real name and early life

AllMusic lists his birth as January 12, 1970, in Long Beach, California. Britannica's entry on Rage Against the Machine independently names "vocalist Zack de la Rocha (b. January 12, 1970, Long Beach, California)." A Library of Congress name record uses the heading De La Rocha, Zack, with variants including DeLaRocha.

AllMusic's biography, by Kieran McCarthy, says he grew up in Irvine, California. It says his mother held a doctorate in anthropology and his father was a muralist known for paintings of Zapatista farmers, and that his parents separated when he was young. It says that as a teenager he was drawn to hardcore punk bands such as Minor Threat, Black Flag, and Bad Religion.

Career highlights

AllMusic says his first high school band, Hardstance, evolved into Inside Out, which released an album on Revelation Records in 1991. It says he was later influenced by hip-hop artists such as KRS-One and Run-D.M.C. before meeting guitarist Tom Morello, with whom he started Rage Against the Machine; AllMusic says de la Rocha chose the name. Britannica dates the band to the early 1990s and lists its members as de la Rocha, Morello, bassist Tim Commerford, and drummer Brad Wilk.

AllMusic says the band played the main stage at Lollapalooza II and that its second and third albums both reached number one. It describes his public advocacy for left-wing causes, including support for Zapatista rebels in Mexico, and says he announced at the end of 2000 that he was leaving the band.

AllMusic says that in the early 2000s he recorded with collaborators including Questlove, El-P, DJ Shadow, and DJ Premier, but that a planned solo album was shelved. It says a song made with Trent Reznor, "We Want It All," appeared on a 2004 compilation, and that he guested on albums by Blackalicious and Roni Size & Reprazent. In 2008, it says, he formed One Day as a Lion with drummer Jon Theodore, formerly of the Mars Volta.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Zack de la Rocha, Zack De La Rocha, or Zack DeLaRocha are looking for the same Rage Against the Machine singer. Longer given names that circulate online were not confirmed in the sources used here.