Multi-platinum political firebrands Rage Against The Machine are officially headed for the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. The group had previously been nominated four times for the hall before finally getting the nod this year.
The group issued a statement on the matter earlier today, May 03rd, offering:
“It is a surprising trajectory for us to be welcomed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1991 four people in Los Angeles formed a musical group to stand where sound and solidarity intersect. We called ourselves Rage Against the Machine.
A band who is as well known for our albums as we are our fierce opposition to the US war machine, white supremacy and exploitation
A band whose songs drove alternative radio to new heights while right wing media companies tried to purge every song we ever wrote from the airwaves
A band who shut down the NY Stock Exchange for the first time in history
A band who was targeted by police organizations who attempted to ban us from sold out arenas for raising our voices to free Mumia Abu Jamal, Leonard Peltier and other political prisoners
A band who sued the US State Department for their fascist practice of using our music to torture innocent men in Guantanamo Bay
A band who wrote rebel songs in an abandoned, industrial warehouse in the valley that would later dethrone Simon Cowell‘s X Factor pop monopoly to occupy the number 1 spot on the UK charts and have the most download song in UK history
A band who funded and organized delegations to stand with Mexican rebel Zapatista communities to expose the Mexican government’s war on indigenous people
A band whose experimentation in fusing punk, rock and hip hip became a genre of its own
Many thanks to the Hall of Fame for recognizing the music and the mission of Rage Against the Machine. We are grateful to all of the passionate fans, the many talented co-conspirators we’ve worked with and all the activists, organizers, rebels and revolutionaries past, present and future who have inspired our art.
–Brad, Tim, Tom & Zack“
While Rage Against The Machine will finally get their induction, Iron Maiden and Soundgarden, who were both among this year’s nominees, will not. Other nominees who failed to make the cut include A Tribe Called Quest, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, The White Stripes and Warren Zevon.
Entering the hall this year alongside Rage Against The Machine will be:
- Kate Bush
- Sheryl Crow
- Missy Elliott
- George Michael
- Willie Nelson
- Rage Against The Machine
- The Spinners
The ‘Musical Influence Award’ will be given to DJ Kool Herc and Link Wray. This year’s recipients of ‘Musical Exellence Award’ include Chaka Khan, Al Kooper and Bernie Taupin. Don Cornelius will be posthumously inducted via the ‘Ahmet Ertegun Award’.
This year’s induction ceremony will be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY on November 03rd.
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