Rage Against The Machine has broken up for the third time and will not resume touring

Fans of Rage Against the Machine have been patiently waiting for the band to reschedule dates for their Public Service Announcement Tour. Unfortunately, not only will the band not resume going the tour, but the members have decided to call it quits entirely. This is not the first time that Rage Against the Machine has broken up. The members split in 2000 and in 2011. They had recently reunited in 2022 and announced that they would be going on an extensive tour in North America and Europe. RATM would only play 19 shows due to an injury suffered by frontman Zack de la Rocha. He had erupted his Achilles tendon while on the second stop of the tour at Chicago’s United Center. de la Rocha would tough it out for the first leg of the tour by sitting on a road case every night. However, they decided to call the rest of the dates off in order to give him time to heal.

According to Rolling Stone, the band’s drummer, Brad Wilk, made the somber announcement to the fans on his Instagram. Wilk posted, “I know a lot of people are waiting for us to announce new dates for all the cancelled 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…”

Zack de la Rocha initially wrote to the fans following the decision to go on hiatus for the injury, “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. I never take that for granted. For you I have the ultimate gratitude and respect.” Then, for the next year, there would be little follow-up information from the band. Guitarist Tom Morello spoke with Rolling Stone in March of 2022 and gave some roundabout answers on the state of the band. “Rage Against the Machine is like the ring in Lord of the Rings. It drives men mad. It drives journalists mad. It drives record-industry people mad. They want it. They want the thing, and they’re driven mad. If there are Rage shows, if there are not Rage shows, you’ll hear from the band. I do not know. When there is news, it will come from a collective statement from the band. There is no news.”

Last October, de la Roche made a surprise appearance on his feet at the Run the Jewels concert in Los Angeles. His on-stage performance was thought to signal that he would be ready to resume the tour. However, when RATM was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the next month, the only member to show up was Morello.