Rage Against the Machine were never one to hold their collective tongues on their views. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023 but only guitarist Tom Morello showed up to accept the honor, for instance. The rest of the band did not care to be inducted into a museum they feel does not truly represent the variety that rock and roll offers.
But the band never before said they would no longer be a group. Sure, they have not produced a studio album since 2000's Renegades, so maybe the proverbial writing was on the wall that Rage Against the Machine wasn't going to commit to give their fans any new music ever again. But we could live with that, right? At least they still sporadically toured so we could see them live.
Bot no more, it appears. Drummer Brad Wilk posted on Instagram this week that the band will "not be touring or playing live again." The same post also alluded to canceled shows from 2022 when the band was gigging but vocalist Zack de la Rocha severed his left Achilles tendon and the band was forced to cancel the rest of the tour.
Rage Against the Machine are unofficially officially no more
There still have not been any make-up dates and now we know there never will be.
While the unofficial official end of the band does bring some sadness, I also can say that the news comes with a shock. The band has just been playing out the string for decades now. Each member of the group has also found new things to do.
At least the band released four live albums with the last coming in 2021 and was a double LP called The Battle of Mexico City. It was excellent, like almost everything else Rage Against the Machine did. If nothing else, we will always have the memories.