Rage Against The Machine reunion hoped for by members
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE Drummer BRAD WILK Shares His Birthday Wish: “Stop K*lling Children… I also wish RATM were an active band!” Brad Wilk and Tom Morello publicly asked Zack de la Rocha for a Rage Against The Machine reunion on social media a few days ago.
In an Instagram post on Friday (Sept 5th) celebrating his 57th birthday, Brad Wilk wrote:
“What’s this, another Birthday!!? F*ck! Another year, another yearning. My Birthday wishes… Stop breeding hatred in children all over the world. Stop k*lling children. Stop abusing and using innocent lives as pawns to further political or religious power agendas. I also wish RATM were an active band! Love n respect. ✌🏼”
In the comment section, Wilk’s RATM guitarist Tom Morello wished his bandmate a happy birthday, adding: “May all your wishes come true.”
Rage Against The Machine announced a 2020 reunion tour in 2019 that was later delayed to 2022 due to COVID. Zack de la Rocha broke his leg on the tour, leading to it prematurely ending. RATM disbanded yet again after the tour.
Tom Morello wrote on Instagram a few weeks ago, “A couple days ago was the anniversary of the final RATM show at Madison Square Garden in 2022. In 1990 I was on tour with my band Lock Up playing a show on my birthday in rural Pennsylvania. There were zero people in attendance at the show. Literally ZERO.
Sitting depressed in the motel room afterwards with the chain smoking bass player I said, “Gimme a cigarette.” He said, “Dude, you’ve never smoked a day in your life you must really be depressed!” I put the cigarette in my guitar case and said, “No I’m going to smoke this one onstage when I sell out Madison Square Garden.”
We laughed. So 32 years later at the last MSG show I took it out of the case (there’ve been several replacements through the years) and thought about smoking it, but, well, I still hate the idea of smoking so I didn’t. Afterwards I just put it on my mantel next to the platinum commemorative ticket for the 5 sold out shows. Nothing but love and gratitude to the band and the fans for making this very improbable story come true.”
Zack de la Rocha blocking RATM reunion
In the last few years since Rage Against The Machine’s final Madison Square Garden shows in 2022, much of the uncertainty around the band’s future has centered on Zack de la Rocha. Historically reluctant about full-scale reunions, de la Rocha has often been the deciding factor in whether Rage returns. After tearing his Achilles tendon onstage in Chicago in 2022, he performed the remainder of that summer’s shows seated, before the injury forced the cancellation of the entire 2023 schedule.
Since then, de la Rocha has largely stayed out of the spotlight, offering no public comment on Rage’s status. His most visible musical work in the last decade has been sporadic collaborations, including features with Run the Jewels. While Brad Wilk and Tom Morello have openly called for Rage to be active again, de la Rocha’s silence has fueled speculation that his hesitancy continues to be the primary factor blocking another reunion.
