Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave showed up to protest in Minneapolis.
“I don’t live here. I’m an outside agitator. I’ve come to stir up trouble. We are here to stir up as much trouble as we can because we care about this country, democracy, freedom and to oppose tyranny, racism and the incredibly horrible state terror that the Trump administration is inflicting on our country.”
Morello was joined by Bruce Springsteen onstage at his anti-ICE concert.
Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine showed up to protest in Minneapolis.
“I don’t live here. I’m an outside agitator. I’ve come to stir up trouble. We are here to stir up as much trouble as we can because we care about this country, democracy, freedom and to oppose tyranny,… pic.twitter.com/v1vvzGYA3h
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) January 31, 2026
Tom Morello introduces Bruce Springsteen at @FirstAvenue 1-30-26
The first time playing his new song supporting Minnesota
“Streets of Minneapolis” pic.twitter.com/FmzlV6vpfR— Eli Gardiner (@eligardiner) January 31, 2026
Tom Morello isnt the only figure in rock to get political. In July 2024, Tenacious D faced backlash after guitarist Kyle Gass made a remark during a concert in Sydney, Australia referencing the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. The show coincided with Gass’s 64th birthday, during which he said “don’t miss Trump next time” while blowing out candles on a cake presented to him onstage.
The following day, Tenacious D announced the cancellation of the remainder of their tour and an indefinite hiatus. Frontman Jack Black later said in a statement that he was “blindsided” by Gass’s remark and that he “would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form.”
Now, in a new interview with Rolling Stone, Gass has opened up about his relationship with Black following the incident.
While some fans criticized Black’s statement, viewing it as throwing Gass under the bus, the guitarist doesn’t blame his bandmate for the reaction. “[He] was doing what he felt he had to do. We’re separate people, always, and we’re on different career paths. I totally understood what he needed to protect. I didn’t begrudge him any of that.”
“I might have deserved it,” he added. “Or, he had to protect himself from his loose-cannon partner over here.”
Gass admits, though, that Black didn’t give him a heads up about his statement ahead of time.
“We were in our own camps at that point. Jack has an agent, manager, and publicist, all that stuff, and they were doing their thing. And I was over here trying to figure out the best thing to do,” he revealed.
Still, Gass noted that the two were aligned on the decision to cancel the tour.
“We had to take the break. And I got it. Jack has this magnificent career; I can’t even count the franchises now. So as hard as it was, I just had to take the long ride home,” Gass explained.
“It’s been a pretty magical, cream dream thrill ride with Tenacious D. It’s something that I never really expected, and it’s been such a joy. […] And just to work with Jack for all these years and watch him soar to new heights, it’s been really gratifying. But [laughs] it can all come tumbling down if you’re not really thinking straight.”
Despite the incident, Gass insists he and Black are back on good terms.
“We hashed it out,” he said. “And it was hard. It is like a marriage. You go through these ups and downs, and try to understand your partner.”
“Jack and I are all good,” he added. “At the end of the day, we’re friends. I’ve known Jack since he was 18, and it’s been such a long marriage, really. You go up and down, and we’ve always taken long breaks. He’s had a lot of stuff to do, and I’ve got my other projects. So it doesn’t even feel that different now.”
Gass was then asked about how he and Black navigate their “fame imbalance.”
“A ‘fame imbalance’ seems weird,” he stated. “First and foremost, we’ve been friends and shared so much over the years, and I think people want to put that on you. But I’m a fan of Jack. It’s been great to see him ascend from when we were just a couple of schmoes in Hollywood. He’s the engine behind the D, too. You can’t really separate that. I don’t begrudge him at all, and I’m just happy to be there. My glass is seven-eighths full, and it’s allowed me to live my best life. I was a delivery driver and a security [guard].”
“It was hard at first, though,” Gass continued. “When the D started to take off, it was really a dream come true. And then people were like, ‘Oh that must be really hard for you because Jack’s so famous!’ Well, not really. It’s cool. And then it’s good for the goose, good for the gander. Part of the reason why the D’s been so great is because of Jack and his popularity.”
Also during his interview with Rolling Stone, Gass apologized for his remarks about Trump, saying, in part: “It was a very low moment for me. […] It was terrible. It was terrible judgment, obviously. I’ve felt terrible ever since, because it’s such a responsibility to not screw up like that.”
