UPDATE: After being announced as one of the 2023 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rage Against The Machine has released a statement about the announcement, their history of activism, and just how unlikely it is that they were voted in. The band has been on hiatus after canceling all of their 2023 tour dates due to Zach De La Rocha’s leg injury suffered in 2022.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Foundation announced its 2023 Inductees. Rage Against The Machine, Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, George Michael are among the inductees. Iron Maiden and Soundgarden are once again snubbed, in spite of placing well in the well-meaning but counting for little in the final voting (1%). The Ceremony will be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Friday, November 3rd, and will return to Cleveland in 2024. Here are the winners:
“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 Al 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 Factor pop monopoly to occupy the number 1 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 man talented co-conspirators we’ve worked with and all the activists, organizers, rebels and revolutionaries past, present and future who have inspired our our art. – Brad, Tim, Tom and Zack.”
Performer Category
Kate Bush
Sheryl Crow
Missy Elliott
George Michael
Willie Nelson
Rage Against the Machine
The Spinners
Musical Influence Award
DJ Kool Herc
Link Wray
Musical Excellence Award
Chaka Khan
Al Kooper
Bernie Taupin
Ahmet Ertegun Award
Don Cornelius
The announcement was streamed on Apple Music 1 during a one-hour special with hosts Ebro Darden, Rebecca Judd, Matt Wilkinson, Brooke Reese, and Kelleigh Bannen with special guests Sheryl Crow and Bernie Taupin.
“This year’s incredible group of Inductees reflects the diverse artists and sounds that define rock & roll,” said John Sykes, Chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. “We are honored that this November’s Induction Ceremony in New York will coincide with two milestones in music culture; the 90th birthday of Willie Nelson and the 50th Anniversary of the birth of Hip Hop.”
Congratulations to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2023 Inductees!
The Ceremony will be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Friday, November 3rd, and will return to Cleveland in 2024.