His father was an aerospace engineer, and worked on the space shuttle. His mother was a mathematician, but died of brain cancer when Tim was 20 years old. Tim's father divorced and remarried, while his mother moved to Sacramento, California to live with his sister, until she died.
Zack de la Rocha and Tim were friends since elementary school, and it was Zack who got Tim playing bass.
Tim has numerous tattoos, including a design covering his back, arms, and chest.
Tim is a fan of jazz, and is an obsessive mountain biker, even going so far as to thank all of his bikes in the liner notes for The Battle of Los Angeles.
The MTV Video Music Awards 2000 Incident
The award for Best Rock Video was being presented. Rage Against The Machine, among many else, were nominated for this. In the end, the award went to Limp Bizkit. As Fred Durst was making his speech, Tim climbed onto the scaffolding of the set and threatened to jump. Fred Durst responded by saying Limp Bizkit was "the most hated band in the world". Michael Moore cheered for Tim. The show soon went into a commercial break. Tim intended to make this a joke, but he ended up crossing the line. He and his bodyguard were sentenced to a night in jail.