Why Rage Against The Machine Could Reunite At Rock Hall of Fame

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Rage Against The Machine were recently announced as nominees for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. The class of 2018 will be announced in December. Despite only releasing three albums of original material, the band are undoubtedly deserving of induction.

Rage Against The Machine are partially to credit for the explosion of rap rock in the late 90’s and early 2000’s with bands like Limp Bizkit, and later Linkin Park and Deftones as it transformed into nu-metal. While bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Alice In Chains were highly influential when it came to post-Grunge bands, Rage Against The Machine helped form a sub-genre of rock that continues to live on to this day. Whether you are a fan of all of the bands they influenced or not, they definitely left an impact.

RATM originally broke up in 2000 with Audioslave forming in the wake of their split, but the band later reunited for several performances and tours from 2007 to 2011. Despite some members’ hopes of new material, it never came to be, and RATM disbanded again after their LA Rising festival performance in July 2011. The four members went their separate ways, until Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk reunited to form Prophets of Rage in 2016 with Chuck D and B-Real.

Zack de la Rocha released a new song titled “Digging for Windows” in 2016, but his debut solo album has continued to be a new Chinese Democracy, much like Tool’s long gestating new record. Prophets of Rage released their debut album this year, and the insinuation in interviews has been that the band formed because Zack de la Rocha was unwilling to continue.

There could be a chance of RATM reuniting for a one off Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performance, as despite his lack of recording output, Zack de la Rocha has made guest appearances with Run The Jewels in recent years, and he has not lost a step. His former bandmates have nothing but praise for him in interviews, even mentioning that they spoke to Zack de la Rocha to get his blessing before deciding to form Prophets of Rage. While new material and a reunion tour don’t seem realistic in the near future, RATM reuniting for one night only to honor their legacy seems like a definite possibility with all four members still alive and on top of their game as live performers.

Brad Wilk told Alternative Nation in a July 2016 interview, “All of us have been doing separate things. When [Prophets of Rage] came up, of course we would love Zack to be a part of this, but he was working on his own record, and doing his own thing. I love Zack as a human being, and as a friend, he is a friend to me first and foremost. The idea of playing together with him, the door is always open for that.”

He added, “I’m open to doing anything with Zack at any time, I love the guy. I think he’s an incredibly talented human being.”

Zack, the ball is in your court!