Thomas Baptiste Morello is the lead guitarist of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Thomas Baptiste Morello was born on May 30, 1964 in Harlem, New York. His parents are Ngethe Njoroge and Mary Morello. The name Morello is of Irish and Sicilian origin on the maternal side. His mother was a teacher and activist. It influenced Thomas's political activism and music, as well as his Kenyan-born father. Thomas' father was a former guerrilla fighter who fought against the English for his country's independence. Morello had a great uncle who was the first Prime Minister and President of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta. He grew up in Libertyville, Illinois, which was the suburb of Chicago. He was raised exclusively by his mother after his father left them and returned to Kenya when Thomas was just 16 months old. Tom Morello started playing the guitar when he was a teenager. Morello bought his first guitar at the age of 13 and also began playing in his first band. The love he has for music was in fact inspired by punk and heavy metal music in the category of Kiss and Iron Maiden. Thomas has said that Tony Lommi, of Black Sabbath, was one of his biggest influences as a writer. Thomas Morello is said to have a very unique style on the guitar. Fans say Morello creates alien guitar sounds with various effects. Thomas says Run-DMC, Jam Master Jay, Public Enemy and Bomb Squad have had a big impact on his musical style. As a teenager he attended Libertyville High School, where his mother taught United States history. Thomas' mother was in fact the teacher of Tom's fellow guitarist, Adam Jones, from the band Tool. Morello sang in the choir and joined his school's speech and drama clubs. In the drama club, he starred in... middle of paper... Tar Trek", "Made", and even had a role in "Iron Man". Although, after much speculation, Rage Against the Machines are reunited with each other. On April 29, 2007, Rage Against the Machine played at the Coachella Music Festival. The group continued to tour around the world, performing at many major festivals. The group did not release any more albums, but went to toured throughout North America and Europe. Tom Morello continued his career as a solo artist and producer and collaborated with many people. In 2011, he joined the Occupy Wall Street movement and performed at several Occupy protests throughout. the country. The same year, Thomas released the album "World Wide Rebel Songs" as The Nightwatchman. Tom Morello has a very unique story and also has a unique style on the guitar. He continues to perform, but now performs with his own group , Street Sweeper Social Club!