Zack De La Rocha of Rage Against The Machine returned to the stage for the first time in over a year last week, joining Run The Jewels to perform their 2014 collaboration “Close Your Eyes And Count To F*ck” during RTJ’s show at the Palladium in Hollywood on Thursday. You can check out the video below:
De La Rocha hadn’t performed since July of 2022 when he injured his leg on the first night of Rage Against The Machine‘s first tour in eleven years. The band was forced to cancel the European leg of the tour then the North American dates as well as it was revealed that Zack had torn his Achilles.
Although he finished the first handful of shows seated, it was clear that he needed to rest and rehabilitate his leg, which would be extremely difficult with the grueling schedule of a summer tour. From the video above, it does look like he’s recovered enough to stand alongside El-P and Killer Mike, and could likely perform a few full shows provided he doesn’t move around too much, but Rage fans would certainly be expecting a different level of activity. Even Tom Morello admitted he didn’t know if Rage would ever be able to tour again; even with De La Rocha fully recovered, the band’s health concerns include bassist Tim Commerford’s recent cancer diagnosis.
Fingers crossed, though. If ever there was a time we all needed some Rage Against The Machine, it’s certainly now.
