Rage Against the Machine, often abbreviated as RATM or simply Rage, was a groundbreaking American rock band founded in 1991 in Los Angeles, California. The band comprised vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello, and drummer Brad Wilk, fusing heavy metal and rap music, punk rock, and funk with revolutionary and anti-authoritarian lyrics. By 2010, their record sales exceeded 16 million copies globally, earning them a well-deserved place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023. Their eponymous debut album, released in 1992, garnered critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone ranking it 368th on the list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in 2003.
Following their acclaimed performances at the 1993 Lollapalooza festival, Rage Against the Machine experienced commercial triumph with their subsequent albums Evil Empire (1996) and The Battle of Los Angeles (1999), both peaking at the top of the Billboard 200 chart. Throughout their initial nine-year tenure, the band not only attained widespread popularity but also became a seminal influence in the music industry, notably shaping the nu metal genre that surged in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Their impact was further solidified by their placement as the 33rd entry on VH1’s 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. Despite disbanding in 2000 due to creative disparities, the band regrouped for a memorable comeback at Coachella in 2007, embarking on an international tour and festival circuit until their hiatus in 2011. However, in 2019, they announced a highly anticipated world tour that was postponed to 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, only to be curtailed by de la Rocha’s leg injury. In 2024, Wilk officially confirmed the band’s third dissolution.