Rage Against The Machine have pulled the pin on their scheduled 2023 North American reunion tour. The cancellation is due to ongoing problems faced by frontman Zack de la Rocha following an onstage injury in July.
The group had originally planned to embark upon their global Public Service Announcement Tour in March 2020, before being forced to postpone as a result of COVID. Formally beginning the tour in July 2022, the group performed until August before cancelling a run of European dates as a result of de la Rocha’s then-unspecified leg injury.
Zack de la Rocha’s leg injury scuppers Rage reunion tour
North American 2023 Rage tour CANCELED pic.twitter.com/ILmTGtAulX
— Rage Against The Machine (@RATMofficial) October 4, 2022
“It’s been almost three months since Chicago and I still look down at my leg in disbelief,” de la Rocha wrote in a statement shared on social media, referring to the city in which he sustained the injury.
“Two years of waiting through the pandemic hoping we would have an opening to be a band again and continue the work we started 30 some odd years ago,” he said. “Rehearsing, training, reconciling, working our way back to form. Then one-and-a-half shows into it and my tendon tears. Felt like a sick joke the universe played on me. As I write this I remind myself it’s just bad circumstance. Just a fucked up moment.”
De la Rocha explained that the onstage incident caused a severe tear in his left achilles tendon, leaving only eight percent of the tendon intact. Due to the severity of the injury, de la Rocha said the upcoming dates must be cancelled so that he can continue the recovery process.
“It’s not simply a question of being able to perform again, but extends to basic functionality going forward,” he said. “That’s why I’ve made the painful and difficult decision to cancel the remaining shows on our 2023 North American leg.”
Rage Against The Machine had been tentatively scheduled to resume their US tour in February 2023. It is now unclear whether new dates will be announced.
Further Reading
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