RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE: A TIME LINE
[1991] First public performance, somebody's living room, Orange
County, California.
[1992] Self-produced 12-song cassette released. Includes "Bullet In The
Head"this original version is later included on Epic debut album.
Through fan club and at live shows, this tape sells over 5,000 copies.
07/13/92 Rage support Porno For Pyros on the latter's debut
performance, Los Angeles, CA.
09/11/92 First of two shows on the second stage of Lollapalooza II,
Irvine Meadows, Los Angeles, California.
10/01/92 First European tour begins, supporting Suicidal Tendencies
(through 10/24/92).
11/06/92 Rage Against The Machine released on Epic Records.
12/26/92 "On the strength of the album, they must be viewed as one of
the most original and virtuosic new rock bands in the nation..."
Timothy White, Billboard.
03/08/93 Rage begin US tour with House Of Pain.
07/18/93 Appearing at Lollapalooza III in Philadelphia, Rage create a
silent protest against censorship by standing naked on stage for 15
minutes without singing or playing a note. Each band member has duct
tape across his mouth and a letter scrawled on his chest, spelling out
"P-M-R-C."
09/11/93 Rage headline sold-out Anti-Nazi League benefit, Brixton
Academy, London, England. Supporting acts include Lush, Senser,
Headswim and Green Apple Quickstep. Show raises money for League
activities, publicizes 10/16/93 anti-Nazi march.
10/14/93 Rage begin headlining US tour with "Rock For Choice" benefit
at The Palladium, Hollywood, California.
11/04/93 First sold-out headlining show at Roseland, New York City.
11/17/93 Rage begin a US tour with Cypress Hill in Denver, Colorado.
12/19/93 MTV "120 Minutes" premier of "Freedom" video, directed by
Peter Christopherson. The video combines live performance footage
with scenes from 1992 documentary Incident At Oglala and text from
Peter Matthiessen's In The Spirit Of Crazy Horse.
01/23/94 Rage headline Rock For Choice benefit, The Palladium,
Hollywood, CA. Also appearing: Screaming Trees, Eddie Vedder,
Mary's Danish, 7 Year Bitch, Green Apple Quick Step, Exene Cervenka.
02/01/94 "Freedom" is the #1 video in the country, according to CVC
Broadcast & Cable Top 50 chart.
04/28/94 Rage organize a benefit concert "For The Freedom Of Leonard
Peltier," California State University, Dominguez Hills, California. Rage
headlines a bill including Cypress Hill, Quicksand, Mother Tongue, X
and Stanford Prison Experi-ment, with guest appearance by the Beastie
Boys. A check for $75,235.91 is later presented to the Leonard Peltier
Defense Fund.
10/22/94 Rage play "Latinpalooza," a joint benefit for Leonard Peltier
Defense Fund, United Farm Workers, and Para Los Niños, at Grand
Olympic Grounds, Los Angeles, CA. Cypress Hill, Ligher Shade Of
Brown, Fobia, Little Joe Y La Familia, and Thee Midnighters share the
bill.
12/30/94 Higher Learning, with music from film directed by John
Singleton, is released on Epic Soundtrax. It features new Rage track,
"Year Of Tha Boomer-ang," which is later included on Evil Empire.
08/17/94 Rage Against The Machine is certified platinum for sales of
one million copies. The album also certified platinum in Canada, UK,
France, Belgium, and Chile; double platinum in New Zealand; and gold
in Germany, Denmark, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland,
Australia.
08/13/95 Rage organize and headline a benefit concert at the Capitol
Ballroom, Washington, D.C. The show raises more than $8,000 for the
International Concerned Friends And Family Of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Also appearing: Handsome, Sullivan Brothers, Girls Against Boys,
Chuck D. of Public Enemy, and Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill.
04/13/96 Rage appear on NBC's "Saturday Night Live." Their two-song
performance is cut to one song when the band attempts to hang
inverted American flags from their amplifiers.
04/14/96 Rage video for "Bulls On Parade," directed by Peter
Christopherson, premiers on MTV's "120 Minutes."
04/16/96 Evil Empire is released on Epic Records.
04/20/96 Rage play free concert at the Velodrome at California State
University, Dominguez Hills, California.
05/03/96 Rage begin a headlining European tour in Madrid.
05/04/96 Evil Empire enter Billboard Top 200 Albums chart at #1*.
06/16/96 Rage play the Tibetan Freedom Concert, Golden Gate Park,
San Francisco. The two-day event draws a sell-out crowd of over
100,000 making it the largest U.S. benefit concert since Live Aid in 1985,
according to event producers Bill Graham Presents. Proceeds go to the
Milarepa Fund, a San Francisco non-profit group working for the
cultural survival of Tibet. Also appearing: Beastie Boys, Smashing
Pumpkins, Fugees, Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Lee Hooker, Beck,
Sonic Youth, Yoko Ono, De La Soul, Richie Havens.
07/16/96 Rage begin a headlining US tour in Atlanta, GA including five
nights at Roseland in New York City; four shows at the Hollywood
Palladium, and three performances as the special guest band on the
main stage of Lollapalooza.
07/31/96 (1) Rage's "Bulls On Parade," directed by Peter
Christopherson, is nominated for Best Hard Rock Video in the MTV
Video Music Awards. (2) Evil Empire certified platinum for US sales of
more than one million copies.
09/04/96 Rage begin a West Coast headlining tour in San Jose, CA with
dates through 10/10/96.
01/04/97 Two songs from Evil Empire, "Bulls On Parade" and "Tire
Me," are nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance and Best Metal
Performance respectively in the 38th Annual Grammy Awards
sponsored by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
01/08/97 Rage Against The Machine is certified double platinum for US
sales of more than two million copies.
01/20/97 More than 50 US commercial radio stations carry the two-hour
debut of "Radio Free L.A." The broadcast includes two live sets by a
band comprised of Tom Morello (guitar), Zack de la Rocha (vocal), Flea
(bass, of Red Hot Chili Peppers), and Steven Perkins (drums, of Porno
For Pyros), including versions of "Down Rodeo," "Vietnow," "Tire
Me," "People Of The Sun," "Bulls On Parade," and "Year Of The
Boomerang." Also featured are live performances by Beck and Cypress
Hill, and commentary by Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Noam
Chomsky, Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), and Chuck D (Public Enemy).
02/26/97 "Tire Me" wins Best Metal Performance in the Grammy
Awards ceremonies held at Madison Square Garden in New York.
04/25/97 At Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Rage Against The
Machine begin a series of stadium concerts supporting U2. Rage's net
earnings from these performances are donated to a group of activist
organizations, including Friends & Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal; FAIR
(Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting); the National Commisson for
Democ-racy in Mexico; FZLN (Zapatista Front For National Liberation);
and Women Alive.
08/21/97 In West Palm Beach, Florida, Rage begin a headlining US tour
with special guests Wu-Tang Clan. The Wu withdraw from the tour
after just one week of shows; subsequent opening slots are filled by
Foo Fighters and The Roots, among others.
10/30/97 Evil Empire is certified double platinum.
11/25/97 Rage release a self-titled full-length home video, concert
footage, non-album songs, and full-length, uncensored versions of the
band's controversial music videos. The home video comes with a
bonus CD single: a new Rage studio recording of Bruce Springsteen's
"The Ghost of Tom Joad."
12/13/97 In Santa Monica, California, Rage's Tom Morello is arrested
during civil disobedience in a "March Of Conscience" against
sweatshop labor. The arrests are part of a protest by garment workers
and their supporters against sweatshop abuses by Guess? Inc. In the
same week, advertisements appear on billboards and bus shelters in
Las Vegas and New York reading. A caption under a photo of the band
reads: "Rage Against Sweatshops: We Don't Wear Guess? – A
Message from Rage Against The Machine and UNITE (Union of
Needletrades Industrial and Textile Employees)."
01/06/98 "People Of The Sun," from Evil Empire, is nominated for Best
Hard Rock Performance in the 39th Annual Grammy Awards.
01/12/98 The home video is certified US platinum for sales of 100,000
copies.
02//98 Rage record "No Shelter."
05//98 Rehearsals begin for The Battle of Los Angeles.
09/01/98 Recording of The Battle of Los Angeles begins (completed
10/01/98).
01/23/99 Unadvertised show at the 500-capacity Troubador in Los
Angeles.
01/28/99 Rage organize and headline a benefit concert at the
Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ, with proceeds
donated to the International Concerned Family And Friends Of Mumia
Abu-Jamal. Also appearing are Black Star, Bad Religion and the Beastie
Boys.
01/05/99 "No Shelter," Rage's track on the platinum Godzilla
soundtrack, is nominated for Best Metal Performance in the 40th
Annual Grammy Awards.
04/12/99 In Geneva, Switzerland, Zack de la Rocha speaks before a full
session of the International Commission of Human Rights of the United
Nations on the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal and the appli-cation of the
death penalty in the United States.
04/24/99 Zack addresses a rally for Mumia Abu-Jamal rally in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Later in the day, he presents a check for
$80,000 to to the International Concerned Family And Friends Of
Mumia Abu-Jamal, representing proceeds from the 1/28/99 benefit
concert.
06/13/99 Rage Against The Machine play the Tibetan Freedom Concert
at Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin. The bill also includes The
Cult, Run DMC, the Beastie Boys, Blondie, Live, Biz Markie, Outkast,
The Roots, Otis Rush, and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.
07/25/99 Rage perform at Woodstock 99 in Rome, New York. A song
from the set, "Bulls On Parade," is later included on the Epic double
album Woodstock 99 (released 10/19/99).
07/30/99 Performance at the Mount Fuji Festival in Naeba, Japan
08/01/99 Performance at Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea.
08/03/99 Performance at Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii.
10/10/99 Rage headline the Coachella Festival in Indio, California.
10/12/99 "Guerrilla Radio," the first single from The Battle of Los
Angeles, arrives in stores.
11/02/99 On Election Day, Rage's third album The Battle of Los
Angeles is released on Epic Records. The band makes its first ever
appearance on "Late Night With David Letterman" (CBS network),
performing "Guerrilla Radio" live on the streets of midtown Manhattan.
TO BE CONTINUED...
