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Rage Against the Machine haven’t performed live since their 2022 reunion tour was cut short due to frontman Zack de la Rocha’s injury, but guitarist Tom Morello considers those shows a triumphant finale if the band never performs again.
The 2022 outing was marred by de la Rocha suffering a torn Achilles tendon during an early stop of the tour, forcing him to perform the rest of the summer leg while seated and eventually leading the group to cancel the remainder of the highly anticipated “Public Service Announcement” tour and all future dates. Later on, drummer Brad Wilk seemed to suggest that RATM’s touring days were over.
In a new interview with Chicago’s WKQX, Morello discussed the possibility that Rage are in fact done, but reflected fondly on those final shows in 2022.
“Well, the irony was leading up to that tour, I ruptured my Achilles,” Morello said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “So, I was in rehearsal on crutches. I was, like, I would have open-heart surgery onstage and not cancel a show. The show must go on. So then Zack — he was in such good shape. Everybody was doing their best to make this thing happen. And sometimes it just happens. And he popped the Achilles and he had sort of seen my journey with it. And we finished the US tour and then sadly canceled all the other stuff after that.”
Indeed the band powered through those remaining 2022 US dates, ending with five consecutive sold-out concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City — what would be RATM’s final shows if Wilk’s comments that the band will “not be touring or playing live again” hold true.
“Here’s the way that I look at it, is Rage Against the Machine was always sort of a volatile situation,” Morello said. “And the fact that we got four great records, the fact that we played shows in 2022 and a new generation got to… Even when [Zack] was sitting down at those shows, those were some of the best Rage Against the Machine shows that we ever did and really connect to people.”
He added: “We finished with five sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden. So if there’s never another show, then that’s quite a way to go out. But in the meantime, cross my heart and hope to die, I am carrying the torch for every one of those riffs and all of the meaning in those songs as well as the other things that I’ve been in. That music matters so much to me, and what it’s about matters so much.”
Morello continues to play RATM material live during his solo gigs, and he’ll be hitting the road for headlining dates across North America this fall. Get tickets here.
Below you can stream the aforementioned interview with Morello.
English (US) · 