Over the past years, Tom Morello is known as the guitarist of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. He was also named one of Rolling Stone's greatest guitarists of all time. However, little did fans know, he had a different past as he had a surprising career years ago.
Before revealing his previous work and how he got involved with it, let's dive into the musician's early life.
According to Grunge, Morello was born in Harlem, New York, and he was immediately exposed to politics as a young kid. His parents were activists, leading him to gain knowledge about social issues when he was younger.
His mother, Mary Morello, founded a campaign called "Parents for Rock and Rap" to prevent censorship of songs and support free speech in music.
Later on, the guitarist became interested in music after listening to the hit album "Never Mind the Bollocks" by Sex Pistol. He honed his skills by joining a band in high school called "Electric Sheep."
Morello attended the prestigious Ivy League school Harvard University in hopes of having a career in politics; he studied political science during his time on campus.
The musician was able to balance his school works and perfect his guitar skills by playing the instrument for eight hours a day.
Tom Morello's Surprising Career
According to NME, he moved to California shortly after graduating college. He spent a few months in the state before getting a job as a scheduling secretary at the office of former Senator Alan Cranston.
During his time there, he realized that he will not be successful in the field of politics because it made him understand that "the whole business was dirty."
Before landing at the senator's office, he was unemployed for a few months, leading him to work as an exotic dancer to earn money.
In an interview with "The Howard Stern Show," the musician gave fans more information about his previous career, saying there was a time when he and his roommate wanted to get a hot tub in their apartment as it could lead them to have girls over.
Since he didn't have the money for it, he worked as a dancer and the money was easy in that career path.
He later clarified that his exotic dancing days were not for a public audience, but rather, he would be booked to dance at private bachelorette parties wherein he would knock on doors wearing a suit before eventually stripping for the ladies.
After saving enough money, Morello said he immediately quit the job, saying "it wasn't awesome."
© 2024 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
