Rage Against the Machine has broken up… again, just days after millions of fans watched them being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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RATM founding member and drummer Brad Wilk made the official break-up announcement on Instagram this week, posting an image with the following message written into it:
“I know a lot of people are waiting for us to announce new tour dates for all the canceled RATM shows. I don’t want to string people or myself along any further. So while there has been some communication that this may be happening in the future… I want to let you know that RATM (Tim, Zack, Tom and I) will not be touring or playing live again. I’m sorry for those of you who have been waiting for this to happen. I really wish it was…”
Wilk captioned the post by saying, “Bottom of my heart.. Thank you to every person who has ever supported us.”
How Many Times Has Rage Against The Machine Broken Up?
This marks the third breakup for Rage Against the Machine.
After forming in 1991 and enjoying massive success in the 1990s, RATM had its first breakup in 2000, after releasing the cover album Renegades.
“I feel that it is now necessary to leave Rage because our decision-making process has completely failed,” RATM frontman Zack de la Rocha wrote in his statement at the time. “It is no longer meeting the aspirations of all four of us collectively as a band and from my perspective, has undermined our artistic and political ideal.”
That statement conveys the complicated nature of Rage Against the Machine’s entire identity and purpose as a band. Mixing hard/alt-rock, rap, and socio-political messaging made RATM a one-of-a-kind band in its ’90s era, joining the likes of Wu-Tang Clan in painting is adistinctly different portrait of American society, highlighting everything for wealth inequality to police brutality, as well as highlighting the general desperate circumstances of impoverished people, while chastising governments and other institutions for exploiting them.
The mission statement for RATM was clear at the outset; however, success brought a familiar set of problems to the table: namely, fame and mainstream/commercial success killing the “authenticity” of the message. By the time Zack de la Rocha quit, RATM music was booming in movie theaters all over the world, thanks to films like The Matrix.
RATM reunited in 2007 to headline Coachella – after remaining the band members (bassist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and Brad Wilk) had finished their run as the band “Audioslave” alongside lead singer Chris Cornell. The relaunch of Rage Against the Machine lasted until 2011, when the band called it quits again.
The third RATM happened in 2020 when the band announced the Public Service Announcement tour. Naturally, that event was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, picking up again in 2022 but quickly coming to a hault in October, after shows for 2023 were cancelled, due to Zack de la Rocha tearing his Achilles tendon – an injury he never bounced back from.
“I hate cancelling shows. I hate disappointing our fans. You have all waited so patiently to see us and that is never lost on me, de la Rocha wrote at the time. “I never take that for granted. For you I Have the ultimate gratitude and respect.”
We’ll have to see if this is truly THE END for Rage Against the Machine.
