Mayorga was born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City,[3] on April 6, 1970,[2] to Cuban and Ecuadorian parents.

[3] His parents soon divorced, leading to him moving to Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he became involved in the local punk rock scene.

When Youthquake's bassist departed from the group, the remaining members formed Word Made Flesh, which Mayorga's brother eventually joined as guitarist.

Mayorga formed the heavy metal band Soulfly in 1997, with former Sepultura vocalist Max Cavalera.

In 2001, he rejoined the band, performing on their 2002 album 3, before leaving again in 2003 in protest of the firing of bassist Cello Dias.

In 2004, he helped create rock band Abloom as with vocalist Jasan Radford and lead guitarist Levon Sultanian.

In 2005, he appeared as one of the drummers on the Roadrunner United compilation CD The All-Star Sessions, playing on "The Enemy", "The End", and "Baptized in the Redemption", all tracks being produced and musically written by Dino Cazares and Roy Mayorga.

The band toured for the next year and a half, releasing the Live in Moscow album exclusively to iTunes on August 14, 2007.