Rage Against The Machine kicked their long-awaited reunion tour off last July, only for vocalist Zack De La Rocha to tear his ACL on stage. The band sadly canceled their European tour as a precautionary measure while De La Rocha headed to physical therapy. The injury turned out worse than expected, causing Rage Against The Machine to cancel their future North American dates as well.
Then things took a turn for the weird post-touring. Only guitarist Tom Morello showed up to Rage Against The Machine‘s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction, while drummer Brad Wilk said the band will not play any more shows or go on any more tours. And y’know, if you’re not touring or making new music then… it’s all over, right?
“I know a lot of people are waiting for us to announce new tour dates for all the canceled RATM shows,” wrote Wilk. “I don’t want to string people or myself along any further. So while there has been some communication that this may be happening in the future… I want to let you know that RATM (Tim, Zack, Tom and I) will not be touring or playing live again. I’m sorry for those of you who have been waiting for this to happen. I really wish it was…”
So what’s going on? Don’t ask bassist Tim Commerford, as nobody’s told him anything. Commerford said in an interview with Rolling Stone: “I don’t know. I don’t get involved in that. I’m the bass player. I just wait for someone to tell me what to do. Brad said what he said, but he’s one step above me. He’s in the number three spot. I am the low man on the totem pole. That’s all I can tell you. I’m the bass player. The bass players always are the last people to find out about shit like that.”
Despite the ambiguity in Rage Against The Machine‘s situation, Commerford notes that he’s ready to go back to the band if they decide to do more. “When the Rage light gets shined up in the clouds, like the Bat-Signal that Batman would see and would know that he had to go do some shit…that’s how I live it. And that feels the best for me. This is the first time in my life that I’ve been able to really remove myself from it and be like, ‘Yeah, I live off the grid.’ And that in itself is enough.”
Want More Metal? Subscribe To Our Daily Newsletter
Enter your information below to get a daily update with all of our headlines and receive The Orchard Metal newsletter.