In case you missed it, in a recent announcement last Wednesday, May 3, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame revealed its 2023 inductees, including Rage Against the Machine, Kate Bush, Missy Elliott, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, George Michael, and the Spinners. Despite the inclusion of Rage Against the Machine, heavier bands like Iron Maiden and Soundgarden were once again overlooked. Both bands were on the ballot for the second time but failed to gather enough votes for induction. The 2023 ceremony will take place on November 3 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Following the reveal, Rage Against the Machine issued the below statement:
“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 for our fierce opposition to the U.S. 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 its 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 U.S. 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 Factory pop monopoly to occupy the number one spot on the U.K. charts and have the most downloaded song in U.K. 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-hop 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.”
