Tom Morello Is Still Shocked People Don’t Know He’s Half-Black

Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello is half Black – and while this may be common knowledge to most of us, the acclaimed guitarist says he still regularly meets fans who are surprised by his race.

“There’s a sizable portion of people in my audience through the decades that are – when I talk about being African American – are stunned and refuse to believe it,” Morello admitted during a recent appearance on the Broken Record podcast. “Like, there’s a cognitive dissonance, like, no, no, no, Tom Morello’s not Black.”

Morello was born in Harlem, New York in 1964. His father was Kenyan diplomat Ngethe Njoroge, while his mother, Mary Morello, was of Irish and Italian descent. The future rock star was raised in Libertyville, Illinois, and his race instantly made him stand out.

READ MORE: How ‘Evil Empire’ Nearly Ended Rage Against the Machine

“I literally integrated the town, according to the real estate agent,” Morello recalled. “One Black person lives in the town, it’s me. Got a white mom and there’s one kid, and every single day, I was reminded that I was Black.”

Some people in town saw Morello as a novelty. For others, the reaction was much different.

“My hair was different, people wanna touch your hair, they wanna see your palms are a different color,” the rocker remarked. “There’s a lot of anthropological study of this guy. There’s a noose in my family’s garage at one point. I was Black, and there was no doubt to anyone in town I was Black.”

Tom Morello: ‘Different Groups View Me in Completely Different Ways’ Due to Race

While Morello laughed looking back on those days, he also drew a line from his unique upbringing to his success in Rage Against the Machine.

“Years later, I’m in a band whose music appears on radio stations that don’t traditionally play Black artists, or rock and roll magazines that never feature Black artists,” he noted.

READ MORE: When Rage Against the Machine Delivered Their Dynamic Debut Album

Morello likened his situation to another famous mixed-race guitarist, Guns N’ Roses icon Slash. “Guns N’ Roses fans don’t know that Slash is Black,” Morello asserted. “They don’t know.”

“I think it’s just fascinating,” the guitarist continued. “It’s an interesting commentary on race in the United States of how, like, I’m the same shade I was when I was at Libertyville, and yet completely different groups view me in completely different ways.”

Morello is out touring in support of his upcoming solo album, Everyone Gets Everything They Want. His upcoming shows include a stop at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville and his own single-day fest, Power to the People, taking place in Columbia, Maryland.