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Rock

Rage Against the Machine to Reunite for 2020 Coachella

By Gil Kaufman
11/1/2019
By Gil Kaufman
11/1/2019
Rage Against The Machine
Gie Knaeps/Getty Images

Zack De La Rocha, Tim Commerford, Brad Wilk and Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine in Vaartkapoen (VK), Brussels, Belgium on June 2, 1993. 

The year of amazing reunions rolls on with news Friday morning (Nov. 1) that Rage Against the Machine will reunite for a pair of 2020 headlining slots at the Coachella Festival.

An industry source familiar with the festival confirmed the booking to Billboard after the news broke earlier in the day via a post on an unverified Instagram account under the group's name. That post also noted three other shows, two of which are in towns along the Texas/Mexico border; at press time, Billboard had not confirmed the veracity of those dates.

The source verified the Apr. 10 and 17 Coachella dates, though the festival has not yet announced its 2020 lineup. The three other cities cited in the Instagram post -- which featured the same photo of Chilean protesters taking to the streets to demand politcal reforms posted by guitarist Tom Morello earlier in the week -- are El Paso, Texas; Las Cruces, New Mexico; and Phoenix, which all have arenas and stadiums where the stridently political, outspoken band could potentially play.

Artist Mentioned

Rage Against the Machine

A spokesperson for Rage -- which went on hiatus again in 2011 after a series of reunion shows -- could not be reached for comment at press time. RATM released the Renegades album in 2000 and then broke up later that year before reuniting in 2007 to perform at Coachella.

Guitarist Tom Morello formed the supergroup Prophets of Rage in 2016 with Rage bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk, alongside rappers Chuck D and B-Real. Rage vocalist Zack de la Rocha has reportedly been working on his solo album since before the band originally split. The group's reunion would come eight months before the 2020 presidential election and continue the band's efforts to fight for the environmental, social and political causes that fueled their incendiary albums.

In 2008, RATM performed a raucous arena show and then led a march of thousands through the streets of St. Paul, Minnesota, to protest the Republican National Convention gathering in that city. 

Editor's note: this article has been udpated to correct the description of the image in the social media post.

By Gil Kaufman
11/1/2019

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