Rage Against the Machine have issued a formal response to their "surprising" induction into the the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The rap-metal pioneers were included in the Rock Hall's class of 2023 alongside Kate Bush, Missy Elliott, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, George Michael, and the Spinners. The nominees who didn't make this year's cut include Iron Maiden, Soundgarden, A Tribe Called Quest, Cyndi Lauper, Joy Division/New Order, Warren Zevon, and the White Stripes.
In a message shared on their social media pages, Rage expressed their gratitude for being included in the museum's pantheon, and reiterated how they achieved this institutional affirmation while simultaneously sticking to their rebellious political ethos.
"It is a surprising trajectory for us to be welcomed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," the band wrote. "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."
See the full statement below.
The 2023 induction ceremony will go down November 3rd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but who knows if Rage Against the Machine (who're currently on hiatus from touring due to Zack de la Rocha's leg injury) will partake in a customary performance.
