Tom Morello Reveals His 15-Year-Old Son Co-Wrote Five Songs on His New Album
The guitarist credits his late activist mother with shaping his belief that music can be resistance.
Tom Morello sat down with Desi Lydic on THE DAILY SHOW to discuss his new solo album, Everyone Gets Everything They Want, which he described as the heaviest project he has made since the first Rage Against the Machine record. The conversation covered the making of the album, its personal stakes and his upcoming festival plans.
Much of the interview centered on Morello's family life, particularly how he drew his 15-year-old son, Roman, into playing guitar by using Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" as a hook. That effort paid off in a significant way: Roman ended up co-writing five songs that appear on the new album, making the record as much a family project as a solo statement.
Morello also traced the album's political undercurrent back to his late mother, Mary, an activist whose influence he credits as the reason he views every guitar riff as a potential act of resistance. That throughline connects the new music to his upcoming Power to the People festival, which he also discussed during the appearance as an extension of the same activist spirit driving the record.
The interview balanced the personal and the political, with Morello moving between stories about mentoring his son in music and reflecting on the ideology that has shaped his career since Rage Against the Machine's debut.
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