Rage Against The Machine Concerts Setlist

Rage Against the Machine, often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage, is an American rock band. They were founded in Los Angeles, California in 1991. The founding members were vocalist Zack de la Rocha (born in 1970 in Long Beach, California), guitarist Tom Morello (1964, New York City, New York), bassist Tim “Tim Bob” Commerford (1968, Irvine, California), and drummer Brad Wilk (1968, Portland, Oregon).

After the break-up of his former rock band "Lock Up" which he played guitar for, Morello was looking to establish a new band in early 1991. He started jamming with de la Rocha and Commerford, at the recommendation of Lock Up drummer Jon Knox. Brad Wilk soon joined the line-up, after being rejected by the band that later became Pearl Jam. They went with the name “Rage Against the Machine” from the get-go, based on the title of a song de la Rocha wrote for his old punk band.

They produced a 12-song demo tape with the same name as the band. That demo turned out so well that Epic Records signed the new band and released their self-titled debut album in November 1992. It became a hit, peaking at the #45 spot on the famous Billboard 200 charts upon its release. The standout single on it was “Killing in the Name”. It also received critical acclaim for the socially conscious lyrics that weren’t common at the time, especially on a record with mainstream appeal.

In 2000, lead singer and co-founder de la Rocha abruptly announced his departure from the band. He cited the “breakdown of the decision making process within the band” and the “undermining of political messages in the songs” as his reason for the move. In December of that year, the band still released a cover songs album, but after that, they dismantled.

RATM went for their first reunion tour 2007, during which they even headlined a show at the famous Coachella Festival. They stopped touring again in 2011, and while there were some rumors about a new album, it never came. The band got back together to go on a Rage Against the Machine concert tour once again after a 9-year-long hiatus in 2020. Currently, they are still together and performing shows.

Rage Against the Machine has published a total of 4 studio albums during their career. The best selling one among them is their self-titled debut album with around 5 million copies sold worldwide. The latest new Rage Against the Machine album is from December 2000, titled “Renegades” - while the band has gone on reunion tours since their initial 2000 break-up, they have not released any new music.

The Californian rock band’s biggest hits to date are the aforementioned “Killing in the Name” (1992), “Bulls on Parade” (1996), “Testify” (1999), and “Born of a Broken Man” (also 1999). Check where the next Rage Against the Machine concert is playing on the page above.