Rage Against The Machine are being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.
The game-changing rap-rock quartet were announced this morning in the 2023 group of inductees alongside fellow 'rock' music icons Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, George Michael, Willie Nelson and The Spinners.
One of the most heavily politicised rock groups to ever explode to mainstream prominence, Rage Against The Machine's music is synonymous with rebellion, so their admission into the hall could be seen be out-of-step with the Los Angeles visionaries intentions.
The band touched on this in a statement this morning via Instagram, while also acknowledging the honour of finally being inducted after six prior appearances on the ballot. You can read the full statement below.
"It is a surprising trajectory for us to be welcomed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1991, four people in Los Angeles formed a musical group to stand where sound and solidarity intersect. We called ourselves Rage Against the Machine.
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 drove alternative radio to new heights while right wing media companies tried to purge every song we ever wrote from the airwaves.
A band who shut down the NY Stock Exchange for the first time in its history.
A band who was targeted by police organizations who attempted to ban us from sold out arenas for raising our voices to free Mumia Al Jamal, Leonard Peltier and other political prisoners.
A band who sued the U.S. State Department for their fascist practice of using our music to torture innocent men in Guantanamo Bay.
A band who 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 number 1 spot on the U.K. charts and have the most downloaded song in U.K. history.
A band who funded and organized delegations to stand with Mexican rebel Zapatista communities to expose the Mexican government's war on indigenous people.
A band whose experimentation in fusing punk, rock and hip hop became a genre of its own.
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 man talented co-conspirators we've worked with and all the activists, organizers, rebels and revolutionaries past, present and future who have inspired our our art.
- Brad, Tim, Tom and Zack.
The induction ceremony will take place on November 3rd at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. There is no word yet on whether Rage Against The Machine will perform at the event. The band has been inactive since cancelling the remaining dates on their 2022 reunion tour following an unfortunate onstage injury to vocalist Zack de la Rocha. If the group does perform at the ceremony, fans hope it'll be as memorable as the time they shut down the New York Stock Exchange by playing an impromptu show, a moment that filmmaker Michael Moore documented for their video for Sleep Now In The Fire.
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