Tom Morello has spoken about Rage Against The Machine‘s legendary and infamous naked protest onstage at Lollapalooza 1993.
On July 18, 1993, as the opening act on Lollapalooza’s main stage, Morello and bandmates Zack de la Rocha, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk walked onstage naked at the JFK Stadium site in Philadelphia with black tape over their mouths and the letters P-M-R-C written in paint on their chests: the initials were a reference to the Parents Music Resource Center, a coalition of politicians’ wives who campaigned against violent and sexual imagery in music, and pressured record companies to flag up releases featuring ‘Explicit Content’. The group stood onstage for 15 minutes without playing a note of music, to make a statement against censorship and right-wing politicians’ attempts to erode First Amendment rights.
In a new interview with NME, Morello shares his memories of the landmark protest.
“We were going to do it in Washington, DC,” he recalls, “but there was disagreements about what the protest was going to be, so we did it in Philadelphia. The record company had brought down everybody to be like, ‘Here’s Rage Against The Machine’. Lollapalooza was a phenomenon – that year, it had sold-out before they announced the bill. We were the first band on.
“Our tour manager was the only person who knew what we planned to do, and he’d worked out we had 15 minutes before the cops arrived, and we’d have to get the hell out of there,” he continues. “Backstage, we have our clothes on, and Layne Staley – whose band Alice in Chains is headlining – said to me: ‘I came early today. I heard you guys are great. I can’t wait to see you.’ I reply: ‘You’re going to see us all right!’ [Laughs].”
Looking back on the band’s provocative protest, Morello says, “We stripped, walked out and the crowd goes bananas. ‘Cause one: it’s Lollapalooza, two: it’s naked guys, some of whom are fairly well-hung. Three: it’s a protest. The guitars are squealing back.
“For the first five minutes, it’s euphoria. For the next five minutes, it’s a strange stand-off as the audience realise we’re now in minute seven, eight, nine… that’s a long-ass time to be standing buck-naked in a football stadium. During the last five minutes, it’s hostile – they’re throwing quarters at our dicks! People are booing. They now realise they’ve stepped into a pile of political art. Then we leave without playing a single song, and there’s a murderous outpouring from the crowd!”
Morello recalls that, as the Philadelphia police came looking for the band, he hid out on Fishbone’s tour bus, still naked, and watched Stars Wars.
“The point was you cannot take controversial music for granted,” he concludes.
Morello’s solo album Everyone Gets Everything They Want is out now.
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