Rage Against The Machine’s Zack de la Rocha Had Surprising Reaction To Prophets of Rage

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Tom Morello discussed his ex-Rage Against The Machine bandmate Zack de la Rocha’s reaction to Prophets of Rage in a new Guardian interview.

Because Chuck D and B-Real would be performing several Rage Against The Machine songs in Prophets of Rage, the band sought the approval of Zack de la Rocha, who quit Rage in 2000 to make a solo album that still hasn’t materialized. When the band reunited for sporadic live dates between 2007 and 2011, they didn’t release a note of new music. “Artists work at their own pace,” Tom Morello says diplomatically. “We only made three studio albums of original material. Outside of Rage Against the Machine I’ve made 13. It was important to get Zack’s blessing and he was lovely to say, ‘Go get ’em.’”

Morello also said he’d be open to collaborating with Ted Nugent.

“Ted Nugent’s a good friend to me. We have very similar views on freedom of speech,” he says with a shrug. “His libertarian edge and my anarchist edge overlap considerably. Sometimes, if he says something outrageous that will fire up his racist base, I’ll text him to say, ‘Dude. What are you on about?’ We’re able to talk about it as friends as opposed to people on the opposite sides of the barricade.”