Zack de la Rocha reportedly tore his Achilles tendon early on in Rage Against The Machine‘s now-cancelled ‘Public Service Announcement’ tour, a friend of the band has said.
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During the second show of the North American leg – which they performed in Chicago on July 11 – de la Rocha was seen to injure his leg onstage, leaving for a short time before continuing the performance seated. “I don’t know what happened to my leg right now,” the singer told the audience. “We’re gonna keep this fucking shit going. I can crawl across this stage. We’re gonna play for you all tonight.”
In an Instagram post on Saturday (August 13), photographer Glen E. Friedman revealed de la Rocha’s injury to be a torn Achilles tendon. “I went to see my good friend Zack (with his torn Achilles) perform last night at Madison Square Garden [August 12],” he wrote. “Even having to sit during the performance Zack De La Rocha showed the world what they had been missing in all the years he had been away from this incredible group of musicians.
“Zack ‘brought it’ like few other ever have or ever could. Integrity, and heart, the touchstones of the most important and greatest.”
On August 11, Rage Against The Machine announced they had been forced to cancel their 2022 UK and Europe ‘Public Service Announcement’ shows, due to “medical guidance” given to de la Rocha following his injury.
In among those cancelled shows was Rage Against The Machine’s headline appearance at this year’s Reading & Leeds festivals. The 1975 have since been announced as their replacement.
Following an 11-year absence, Rage Against The Machine’s North American shows were littered with exciting moments. The night de la Rocha was injured also saw the outfit perform ‘No Shelter’ for the first time in 15 years. The band also played ‘Born Of A Broken Man’ for the first time in 14 years at their show in Cleveland, Ohio on July 27.
Their set at Bluesfest in Ottawa was interspersed with a protest message, condemning violence against Indigenous Canadians. Also in Canada – at the Toronto show on July 23 – guitarist Tom Morello was caught in a scrummage between a security guard and an attendee, the latter of who, had made it up onstage during Rage’s performance of ‘Killing In The Name’.
The same show saw tour openers Run The Jewels join the band onstage for a performance of the de la Rocha-featuring ‘Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck)’, lifted from their second studio album, 2014’s ‘Run The Jewels 2’.
Elsewhere, celebrity chef Guy Fieri was seen following Rage Against The Machine on several shows across their US stretch. Fieri documented his experience on Twitter, writing that he and his son, Hunter, were “losin’ our minds”, noting how the band were “crushin’ it!!”.