Tom Morello has hit back at those who argue that musicians shouldn’t be political.
- Read More: Tom Morello: “In the past, I’ve wanted to use music as a battering ram for social justice”
It comes after the Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave guitarist recently used his set at Download Festival 2026 to send a message to the British far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
For the show, he had written in large letters on the back of the body of his guitar, “FUCK TOMMY ROBINSON”, with the big screens picking up the message. Morello later reposted a photo of the image on his X account.
Speaking in a new interview with Metal Hammer, when it was put to him that some argue that musicians shouldn’t be political he said: “When people say that musicians should not be involved in politics, it means they are people that disagree with your politics. The second that you write a song that agrees with their politics, all of a sudden they’re all for it. So one, it’s very hypocritical, but two, I also think that, why should you give away your free speech rights in the job that you do? Because it offends someone?
“I think that the converse is what is actually true, I think you do yourself and your times a disservice by censoring who you are in your world, not just musicians but in your work as a music journalist or in your work as a tour manager or a bus driver, you should not leave behind who you are and what you believe.”
Morello added: “There’s an extra hot layer of hell for people in times of great injustice who censor themselves and remain quiet when they should have spoken out because they’re afraid of some internet troll.”
He went on to say that Public Enemy and The Clash, helped change him as a person despite having very different backgrounds from each other because their music spoke out against oppression.
Their music made him feel understood in his beliefs he insisted and as a result he feels that “every song is like a beacon of hope for somebody.”
Morello previously hit out at a troll who questioned his political knowledge.
After being accused of being “another successful musician instantly [becoming] a political expert,” Morello deftly pointed out in defending his right to have a political opinion that he happened to be an honours grad in political science from Harvard University.
“One does not have to be an honours grad in political science from Harvard University to recognise the unethical and inhumane nature of this administration but well, I happen to be an honours grad in political science from Harvard University, so I can confirm that for you,” Morello wrote at the time.
He has also hit out at Rage Against The Machine fans who he claimed “weren’t intelligent enough” to understand the group’s politics in the past.
“Never ceases to amaze me how many folks who’ve heard RATM are in Paul Ryan mode, having literally ZERO understanding of anything that band was about and even less understanding where any of us might stand on contemporary issues,” he wrote.
“Recently was talking to a couple at a restaurant who were big fans of ‘Killing In The Name.’ The nice lady said, ‘I love that song. It helped me rage against my parents and later against the jab!’ I said, ‘Ma’am that song is about racist cops who often behave like the Ku Klux Klan in service of historical white supremacy and are boot licking lackeys and thugs of the racist capitalist ruling class.’ She sat there chewing and blinking, chewing and blinking.”
Morello is curating the Power To The People festival in October in Maryland, with Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Joan Baez and System of a Down’s Serj Tankian all set to perform. It is described as “a non-partisan celebration of peace, justice, solidarity, music and community action”, and you can read more about it here.
Elsewhere, he postponed his scheduled live shows in London and Paris this week due to a “family medical emergency”.
