Tom Morello Plays RATM Song at Sanders Rally
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello made a high-profile appearance at a Los Angeles rally headlined by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, where the event promoted a proposed California “billionaires tax” initiative. The moment brought a rock flashpoint to a fast-moving political fight, as Democrats and Republicans in the state clash over whether a wealth tax would raise vital funds or push the ultra-rich to leave.
Morello performed Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing In The Name Of” at the rally, while altering a lyric during the set, CalMatters reported, as Sanders urged supporters to back a November ballot measure that would levy a 5% tax on the 2025 net worth of California billionaires and direct 90% of the revenue to health care and 10% to K-12 education.
Sanders used the event to warn about what he called the “billionaire class,” telling the crowd that wealthy interests would spend heavily to defeat the initiative and would attempt to frame the measure as harmful to the public. The article also noted the proposal is being sponsored by Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West and St. John’s Community Health, who are gathering signatures to place it on the ballot.
Morello’s onstage moment arrives with the guitarist long associated with politically charged music and activism, and it also follows earlier Alternative Nation coverage touching on the band’s orbit, including when a report claimed Slash was nearly killed with a Rage Against the Machine member in a separate incident.
With Gov. Gavin Newsom and leading Democrats opposing the specific billionaire-tax proposal on the grounds it could drive wealthy residents out of California, the rally underscored how the fight is escalating ahead of November—now with one of rock’s most outspoken guitarists putting his music directly into the campaign spotlight.
