Rage Against The Machine will not be touring or playing live again: “I don’t want to string people or myself along any further” says drummer, Brad Wilk

Rage Against The Machine “will not be touring or playing live again”, according to drummer Brad Wilk, who took to his own social media account to make the announcement on 3 January.

No official announcement has been made by the band, however posting on Instagram, Wilk decided to level with the band’s fans about the possibility of future live shows.

“I know a lot of people are waiting for us to announce new tour 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…”

Rage Against The Machine previously announced a reunion tour in 2019. Scuppered by the Covid-19 pandemic, the dates were rearranged for 2022. However, RATM was forced to abandon the tour after 19 dates when vocalist Zack de la Rocha tore his achilles tendon on stage in Chicago.

Since then, bassist Tim Commerford has revealed that he has been battling prostate cancer, undergoing surgery before the band’s rescheduled reunion dates. “Two months before the tour, I had surgery and my doctors said I wasn’t going to be ready,” he said. 

“That was brutal. I would be on stage looking at my amp in tears. Then you just kind of turn around and suck it up.”

“When I got my physical, my doctor said I was in the best shape of any 50-year-old he’d ever seen there,” he said. “There’s plenty of people that are in great shape that have cancer. And I’m hoping to continue as long as I can be that. I work out religiously, and I try my hardest to stay in shape. I’m still very proud of who I am.”

In November 2023, Rage against The Machine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with guitarist Tom Morello being the only member of the band to attend the ceremony, accepting the award on his bandmates behalf.

Earlier last year, Morello spoke out on the band’s future, telling Rolling Stone that “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.” 

He added, “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.” 

At the time of writing, RATM is yet to make that collective statement.