Zack de la Rocha & Rage Against the Machine Mates Voted Into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Zack de la Rocha is all the Rock and Roll rage…

The 53-year-old Mexican American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper and political activist and his fellow Rage Against the Machine band mates have made it onto the list of inductees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Zack de la Rocha x Rage Against the MachineIt took five tries, but the rebel rock fuse-lighters finally made it onto the inductee list.

The L.A. group whose incendiary sound mashed up the force of crunching hard rock with the social conscience and rhythms of hip-hop, the no f’s given attitude of punk and a topical lyrical attack indebted to 1950-60s folk songwriters reacted to the news that they’d gotten the nod in typically strident fashion.

In an Instagram message from the group on Wednesday morning (May 3), they wrote, “It is a surprising trajectory for us to be welcomed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

The note from singer de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, drummer Brad Wilk and bassist Tim Commerford then dipped into their biography as a band formed in 1991 by four people to “stand where sound and solidarity intersect.”

They described themselves as “a band who is as well known for our albums as we are for our fierce opposition to the U.S. war machine, white supremacy and exploitation. A band whose songs drive alternative radio to new heights while right wing media companies tried to purge every song we ever wrote from the airwaves.”

The multi-slide post went on to tick off some of Rage’s career high points: shutting down the New York Stock Exchange for the fist time in its 200-year history when they stormed it to shoot the 1999 video for “Sleep Now in the Fire”; as a group targeted by “police organizations who attempted to ban us from sold-out arenas for raising our voices to free Mumia Abu Jamal, Leonard Pelteir and other political prisoners; one that sued the U.S. government for their “fascist practice of using our music to torture innocent men at Guantanamo Bay”; funding and organizing delegations to stand with Mexican rebel Zapatista communities to expose the Mexican government’s war on indigenous people and the band that “wrote rebel songs in an abandoned, industrial warehouse in the Valley that would later dethrone Simon Cowell’s X Factor pop monopoly to occupy the No. 1 spot on the UK charts and have the most downloaded song in UK history (“Killing in the Name”).”

“A band whose experimentation in fusing punk, rock and hip-hop became a genre of its own,” they added. “Many thanks to the Hall of Fame for recognizing the music and the mission of Rage Against the Machine. We are grateful to all of the passionate fans, the many talented co-conspirators we’ve worked with and all the activists, organizers, rebels and revolutionaries past, present and future who have inspired our art.”

RATM released just four albums during their initial 1991-2000 run before reforming for live dates from 2007-2011 and against in 2019 for a series of shows that were first interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and then by singer de la Rocha’s leg injury.

This year’s other inductees include: Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, George Michael, Willie Nelson, The Spinners, DJ Kool Herc, Link Wray, Chaka Khan, Al Kooper, Bernie Taupin and Soul Train host Don Cornelius.

Zack de la Rocha & His Rage Against the Machine Band Mates Among This Year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees

Zack de la Rocha is hoping the fifth time’s the charm…

The 53-year-old Mexican American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper and political activist and his fellow Rage Against the Machine band mates are among the fourteen 2023 nominees for induction into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Zack de la Rocha x Rage Against the MachineFormed in 1991, the two-time Grammy-winning rock band is known for its melding of heavy metal and rap music with punk rock and funk influences, and its revolutionary socialist political views.

Rage Against the Machine was previously nominated in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Here’s the complete list of nominees as announced by the The Rock Hall Foundation:

Kate Bush
Sheryl Crow
Missy Elliott
Iron Maiden
Joy Division/New Order
Cyndi Lauper
George Michael
Willie Nelson
Rage Against the Machine
Soundgarden
The Spinners
A Tribe Called Quest
The White Stripes
Warren Zevon

To be eligible for nomination, an individual artist or band must have released its first commercial recording at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination. Eight out of 14 of the nominees are on the ballot for the first time: Crow, Elliott, Joy Division/New Order, Lauper, Michael, Nelson, The White Stripes, and Zevon.

This is the first year of eligibility for Elliott and The White Stripes.

“This remarkable list of nominees reflects the diverse artists and music that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honors and celebrates,” said John Sykes, chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. “These artists have created their own sounds that have impacted generations and influenced countless others that have followed in their footsteps.”

The nominees were announced today on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame social channels and on SiriusXM Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Radio and Volume on the SXM App.

Nominee ballots will be sent to an international voting body of more than 1,000 artists, historians and members of the music industry. An artist’s musical impact and influence on other artists, length and depth of career and body of work, as well as innovation and superiority in style and technique are taken into consideration.

Last year’s Hall of Fame inductees were Dolly Parton, Eminem, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon, Judas Priest and Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo.

Inductees will be announced in May. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2023 Induction Ceremony will take place this fall with date, venue, and on-sale information to be announced.

Zack de la Rocha & Rage Against the Machine to Perform at Inaugural Andalucia Big Festival 

Zack de la Rocha is bringing the rage to Spain… 

The 52-year-old Mexican American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper and activist and his Rage Against the Machine band mates have joined the lineup of the inaugural Andalucia Big Festival in September.

Zack de la Rocha x Rage Against the MachineIt will marking de la Rocha and the band’s first show in the Spanish city of Malaga in 25 years.

The group will perform alongside Glass AnimalsMuse and Jamiroquai at the event that will take place in Malaga at Sacaba Beach on September 8, 9 and 10.

Among the other acts slated to appear at ABF are: Aurora, Gus Dapperton, Biffy Clyro, Years & Years, Stereophonics, Paolo Nutini, Michael Kiwanuka, Kevin Morby, Yard Act, Lucy Dacus, Run the Jewels, Kurt Vile & the Violators, Los Planetas and more.

Tickets for the festival from the organizers of the Mad Cool Festival will go on sale on Friday (April 29) here.

The Mad Cool team will double down on that September weekend by also hosting a one-day sister festival in Madrid on September 10, Mad Cool Sunset, which will feature another headlining set from Rage Against the Machine, as well as performances from Biffy Clyro, Glass Animals, Stereophonics, Run the Jewels, Kurt Vile and more.

The original Mad Cool festival will also be back in Madrid this summer from July 6-10 with a jam-packed lineup of huge stars, including headliners Metallica, Twenty One Pilots, Imagine Dragons, The Killers, Muse, Queens of the Stone Age, Kings of Leon, Florence & the Machine, Pixies and Jack White, as well as Chvrches, Carly Rae Jepsen, Glass Animals, Wolf Alice, Yungblud, Deftones, St. Vincent, Foals, Alt-J, The War on Drugs, Haim, Phoebe Bridgers, Royal Blood, Zara Larsson, Leon Bridges, Animal Collective, Black Pumas, Local Natives, Princess Nokia, The Struts and many more.

Zack de la Rocha & His Rage Against the Machine Mates to Launch Postponed “Public Service Announcement” Tour in July

Zack de la Rocha is preparing to trek across the United States…

The 52-year-old Mexican American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper and activist and his Rage Against the Machine band mates have announced plans to hit the road starting in July for their long-awaited Public Service Announcement tour.

Zack de la Rocha x Rage Against the Machinede la Rocha and his band mates were originally scheduled to go on the road together nearly two years ago, but had to postpone when the pandemic broke.

After bumping from 2020 to summer 2021, the lyrical bomb-throwers will finally take the stage starting on July 9 with a kick-off show at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin, before making their way across North America with stops in Chicago, Toronto, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and a five-night stand in New York.

The dates will then pick up again in early 2023 with another round of shows beginning with a February 22 gig at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

That run of gigs will keep the band on the road through a planned two-night stand in Detroit at Little Caesars Arena in early April.

In a note the band said all tickets for the moved dates will be honored; fans who would prefer a refund have until March 15, 2022.

Rage Against the Machine will be joined on your by opening act Run the Jewels.

Here’s the full list of Public Service Announcement dates below:

2022
July 9 – East Troy, WI @ Alpine Valley Music Theatre
July 11 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
July 12 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
July 15 – Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Bluesfest
July 16 – Quebec City, QC @ Festival D’Ete De Quebec
July 19 – Hamilton, ON @ First Ontario Centre
July 21 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
July 23 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
July 25 – Buffalo, NY @ Keybank Center
July 27 – Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse
July 29 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
July 31 – Raleigh, NC @ PNC Arena
Aug. 2 – Washington, DC @ Capitol One Arena
Aug. 3 – Washington, DC @ Capitol One Arena
Aug. 8 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Aug. 9 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Aug. 11 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Aug. 12 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Aug. 14 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden

2023
Feb. 22 – Las Cruces, NM @ Pan American Center
Feb. 24 – El Paso, TX @ Don Haskins Center
Feb. 26 – Glendale, AZ @ Gila River Arena
Feb. 28 – Glendale, AZ @ Gila River Arena
March 3 – Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
March 5 – Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
March 7 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center
March 9 – Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome
March 11 – Vancouver, BC @ Pacific Coliseum
March 13 – Calgary, AL @ Scotiabank Saddledome
March 15 – Edmonton, AL @ Rogers Place
March 17 – Winnipeg, MB @ Canada Life Centre
March 19 – Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
March 20 – Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
March 22 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Denny Sanford Premier Center
March 28 – Kansas City, MO @ T-Mobile Center
March 30 – St. Louis, MO @ Enterprise Center
April 1 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesar’s Arena
April 2 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesar’s Arena

Zack de la Rocha & His Rage Against the Machine Band Mates Nominated for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Will the fifth time be the charm for Zack de la Rocha?

The 52-year-old Mexican American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper and activist and his Rage Against the Machine band mates are among this year’s nominees for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Zack de la Rocha x Rage Against the MachineKnown for their songs, which express revolutionary political views, the band has sold more than 16 million records worldwide.

de la Rocha and rock band members are among 17 artists who received a nomination this year. They’re joined by Dolly PartonPat Benatar, Dionne Warwick, Judas Priest, Beck, Eminem, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon, A Tribe Called Quest and Duran Duran, among others.

Musicians become eligible for the Hall of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album. Rage Against the Machine has been eligible since 2017.

They were previously nominated in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021, though the bids failed.

“This year’s ballot recognizes a diverse group of incredible artists, each who has had a profound impact on the sound of youth culture,” said John Sykes, head of the foundation that runs the Rock Hall, in a statement.

A roster of five to seven successful inductees will be announced in May, with the annual ceremony to be scheduled for later this year.

This year’s nominees are:

  • A Tribe Called Quest
  • Beck
  • Pat Benatar
  • Kate Bush
  • Devo
  • Duran Duran
  • Eminem
  • Eurythmics
  • Fela Kuti
  • Judas Priest
  • MC5
  • The New York Dolls
  • Dolly Parton
  • Rage Against the Machine
  • Lionel Richie
  • Carly Simon
  • Dionne Warwick

Along with the official nominees, the Rock Hall today opened the annual “fan vote” balloting, available at the Rock Hall website. The five artists with the most votes by April 29 will be tallied with the Hall’s official ballots in selecting this year’s inductees.

Within several hours of the fan ballot opening, Pat Benatar, Dolly Parton, Duran Duran, Eurythmics and Carly Simon held the top five spots, with Benatar in a significant lead.

Zack de la Rocha & His Rage Against the Machine Band Mates Earn Third Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nomination

Zack de la Rocha is getting another chance to head to the Hall

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced its 2021 nominees, with the 51-year-old Mexican American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper and activist and his Rage Against the Machine band mates earning a spot on the ballot.

Zack de la Rocha x Rage Against the Machine

In the the most gender-inclusive ballot in the Rock Hall’s history, de la Rocha and his band mates are joined by Mary J. Blige, Kate Bush, Devo, Foo Fighters, The Go-Go’s, Iron Maiden, Jay-Z, Chaka Khan, Carole King, Fela Kuti, LL Cool J, New York Dolls, Todd Rundgren, Tina Turner and Dionne Warwick on the 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot.

Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist  de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello, and drummer Brad Wilk.

The bands songs express revolutionary political views.

The band was nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in its first year of eligibility in 2017, as well as in 2018, although both bids failed. Could their third nomination be the charm?

Fan votes, which you can cast at RockHall.com, contribute to the induction process, but don’t guarantee entry.

In 2020, the Rock Hall inducted Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, the Notorious B.I.G., Whitney Houston, T. Rex and the Doobie Brothers into its ranks during a virtual ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic.