Photo: Tom Curtis/WireImage
Better to sleep than in the fire. Rage Against the Machine has reportedly disbanded for the third time. Bassist Brad Wilk announced on Instagram that the band's oft-postponed reunion shows will never be rescheduled. “I know many people are waiting for us to announce new dates for all canceled RATM shows,” Wilk wrote. “I don’t want to push people or myself any further. Even though it has already been communicated that this could happen in the future, I want to let you know that RATM (Tim, Zack, Tom and I) will no longer be touring or playing live. I'm sorry to those of you who have been waiting for this to happen. I really wish it was…”
Rage first broke up in 2000, arguably at the height of their mainstream popularity. Zack de la Rocha left the band and the remaining members regrouped with Chris Cornell as Audioslave. The band got back together in 2007, among other things to prevent the country from sliding into “right-wing purgatory”. The band went on hiatus in 2011 and reformed to announce the Public Service Announcement Tour in 2019. Then COVID happened. The rescheduled dates began in 2022, but de la Rocha suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon during a stop in Chicago. The band completed the first leg of the tour and then postponed further dates to allow the frontman to recover. These dates have now apparently been canceled for good.