Rage Against the Machine won’t tour or perform live again, drummer Brad Wilk says

Rage Against the Machine’s Brad Wilk says the band will not tour or perform live again, likely being the third time the group has broken up in the last two decades.

In a social media post on Wednesday, the longtime drummer said there won’t be any new tour dates after the band canceled the remainder of their North American tour in 2022 because frontman Zack de La Rocha tore his left Achilles tendon.

“I don’t want to string people or myself any further,” he wrote on Instagram. “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 us who have been waiting for this to happen,” he continued, while also thanking fans in the post. “I really wish it was…”  The post ended there not providing fans with any further information. 

The announcement appears to be the third time Rage Against the Machine has disbanded, at least temporarily. The band first broke up in 2000 when Rocha said he was leaving the band because “our decision-making process has completely failed.” They got back together in 2007 after reuniting to play at Coachella and went on to tour until 2011. The band split again that year, but announced almost a decade later in 2019, they were coming back to headline a tour in 2020. However, that tour was postponed until 2022 because of the pandemic.

The announcement also comes months after the punk metal band, best known for being outspoken for their leftist views, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, where they were introduced by Ice-T. During the ceremony, guitarist Tom Morello urged the crowd to fight for a world “without compromise or apologies.”

In 2022, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, they flashed pro-abortion images of text saying “Abort the Supreme Court” during a reunion concert.  

Rage Against the Machine formed in 1991 and released their debut self-titled album the following year – receiving critical acclaim and commercial success.  The band won two Grammy Awards –  one for “Tire Me” for Best Metal Performance in 1997 and another for “Guerilla Radio” for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2001. Their debut album was ranked among Rolling Stone’s list of 500 greatest albums of all time in 2003.