Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images It was a busy weekend for Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello , who joined Bruce Springsteen and friends at the MusiCares Person of the Year ceremony on Friday (Feb. 8) and then took part in the final performance of the 2013 Grammy Awards Sunday night (Feb. 10). Morello was part of an all-star collaboration fronted by Grammy host LL Cool J and Public Enemy’s Chuck D. on a song called ‘Whaddup’ off LL Cool J’s new album. Rounding out the five-piece was some nifty scratching from DJ Z-Trip and some dexterous beats from Blink-182 ‘s Travis Barker . Though Morello was mostly in the background on the track, he did come to the forefront for some serious shredding midway into the song. The new track was an interesting song, offering bits of throwbacks throughout from Chuck D.’s repetitious “Hear the drummer get wicked” to Z-Trip spinning a sample of LL Cool J’s ‘Rock the Bells.’ In addition, LL Cool J through in a nod to the late Adam Yauch , shouting “MCA forever” before running off a few lines of the Beastie Boys ‘ ‘No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn.’ However, in a lame move, the end of the song was cut off by sponsorship mentions and a quick cutaway, presumably to keep the length of the show on time. The performance concluded a night which also featured stellar performances from the Black Keys , Jack White , fun. , and tributes to late musicians Bob Marley and Levon Helm . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/category/grammys/” title=”Full Grammy Coverage Here” align=”center”]
Posts Tagged ‘morello’
Tom Morello Joins LL Cool J, Chuck D + Travis Barker for 2013 Grammy Performance
Tom Morello + Others Salute MusiCares Person of the Year Bruce Springsteen
Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images Tom Morello ‘s growing relationship with Bruce Springsteen continued in a major way Friday night (Feb. 8) in Los Angeles as the Rage Against the Machine guitarist was all over the set list for the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute to “The Boss.” Morello first appeared onstage with the legendary Jackson Browne , playing along to the Springsteen song ‘American Skin (41 Shots).’ He’d later return to join My Morning Jacket ‘s Jim James in performing a scorching version of ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad.’ The guitarist finished out the night playing three songs with Springsteen — ‘Death to My Hometown,’ ‘Thunder Road’ and ‘Born to Run’ — before the all-star finale on the song ‘Glory Days.’ Other highlights during the evening included the show opening ‘Adam Raised a Caine’ from Alabama Shakes , Mumford & Sons performing ‘I’m on Fire,’ Elton John delivering ‘Streets of Philadelphia’ and Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s rousing take on ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ Initial reports of the gala’s lineup suggested Eddie Vedder was also to be involved, but all reviews indicate that he was not part of the event. In addition to the show, there was a charity auction led by Springsteen in which the singer offered a number of personal items to help boost up the price on a signed guitar by many of the participants. According to NJ.com , as part of the Springsteen aided package, the winning bidder also got a one-hour guitar lesson, a ride in the sidecar of Springsteen’s Harley and one of the singer’s mother’s lasagnas. When all was said and done, the guitar with Springsteen’s extras fetched $250,000 for MusiCares. Bruce Springsteen 2013 MusiCares Person of the Year Concert Setlist: ‘Adam Raised a Caine’ — Alabama Shakes ‘Because the Night’ — Patti Smith ‘Atlantic City’ — Ben Harper, Natalie Maines & Charlie Musselwhite ‘American Land’ — Ken Casey (of Dropkick Murphys) ‘My City in Ruins’ — Zac Brown and Mavis Staples ‘I’m on Fire’ — Mumford and Sons ‘American Skin (41 Shots)’ — Jackson Browne and Tom Morello ‘My Hometown’ — Emmylou Harris ‘One Step Up’ — Kenny Chesney ‘Streets of Philadelphia’ — Elton John ‘Hungry Heart’ — Juanes ‘Tougher Than the Rest’ — Tim McGraw and Faith Hill ‘Ghost of Tom Joad’ — Jim James and Tom Morello ‘Dancing in the Dark’ — John Legend ‘Lonesome Day’ — Sting ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ — Neil Young and Crazy Horse ‘We Take Care of Our Own’ — Bruce Springsteen ‘Death to My Home Town’ — Bruce Springsteen & Tom Morello ‘Thunder Road’ — Bruce Springsteen, Tom Morello, Roy Bittan, Max Weinberg, Gary Tallent ‘Born to Run’ — Bruce Springsteen, Tom Morello, Roy Bittan, Max Weinberg, Gary Tallent ‘Glory Days’ — All [button href=”http://loudwire.com/tom-morello-fill-in-for-steven-van-zandt-on-bruce-springsteen-australian-tour/” title=”Next: Tom Morello to Fill in on Bruce Springsteen’s Australian Tour” align=”center”]
Tom Morello Reveals Identity of ‘How I Could Just Kill a Man’ Video’s Naked Guy
Kevin Winter, Getty Images Rage Against the Machine ‘s Tom Morello has continued his video series where he answers fan questions and in his latest installment he revealed a long-secret piece of trivia from the band’s history — the identity of the naked guy in the ‘How I Could Just Kill a Man’ video. In the clip, the offending naked guy is briefly shown standing next to singer Zack de la Rocha, and more than a few fans have asked how that piece of video footage found its way into the clip and why. Morello revealed, “It was a friend of ours who toured with us named MJ Plenty and at the time on that particular tour we were doing this grim, I wouldn’t call it hazing, but we had this outstanding $250 per diem money that was always sitting on the desk. And then someone in the band or someone in the crew would come up with a different task and if you did the task you got the $250.” The guitarist recalls that Plenty accepted the bet, which for that night entailed him going onstage naked, with a few other conditions that needed to be met to achieve the goal. Morello says, “He’s not just naked, he’s naked with his wiener tucked. It you do it frame-by-frame, you’ll see that he has a wiener-tuck going on. And I’m not sure if he’s singing the Maynard [James Keenan] part of ‘Know Your Enemy’ or if he’s just onstage during that part of ‘Know Your Enemy’ while Zack is singing to him, but part of the deal was that he couldn’t laugh. He couldn’t break character, he had to be … stoic. He did it. He got the $250 and he is forever immortalized in the ‘How I Could Just Kill a Man’ video.” With Rage pretty much on break at this point after reissuing a 20th anniversary edition of their debut album last year, Morello is finding other things to keep him occupied. The guitarist says he’s currently working on a new Nightwatchman album and will play a show at New York City’s Lincoln Center Feb. 16. In addition, it was just confirmed that Morello will sit in with Bruce Springsteen ‘s E Street Band during their Australian trek as Steven Van Zandt has requested time off to shoot his TV series, ‘Lilyhammer.’ Watch Rage Against the Machine’s ‘How I Could Just Kill a Man’ Video [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-rage-against-the-machine-songs/” title=”Next: 10 Best Rage Against the Machine Songs” align=”center”]
Tom Morello to Fill In for Steven Van Zandt on Bruce Springsteen’s Australian Tour
Dimitrios Kambouris / Larry Busacca, Getty Images Tom Morello may not be rocking with Rage Against the Machine at the moment, but the guitarist has found another tour that will keep him occupied. Morello has agreed to play in Bruce Springsteen ‘s band for their upcoming Australian tour while regular guitarist Steven Van Zandt (above, right) takes a break to shoot episodes of his television series ‘Lilyhammer.’ The admiration between Tom Morello and Bruce Springsteen has been there for years, and the guitar great has frequently joined Springsteen for performances of ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad,’ a song that both ‘The Boss’ and Rage have recorded as part of their catalogs. In addition, Morello turned up on multiple recordings on Springsteen’s most recent album, ‘Wrecking Ball.’ The RATM axeman has also signed on to perform at the 2013 MusiCares benefit tribute saluting Springsteen next month in Los Angeles. For those wondering, Morello will perform on shows between March 14-31, with multi-night stops in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Macedon along the way. Little Steven is expected to resume his guitar duties with Springsteen’s band beginning Apr. 29 in Oslo, Norway. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/tom-morello-unsure-if-rage-against-the-machine-will-ever-perform-again/” title=”Next: Tom Morello Unsure of Rage Against the Machine’s Future” align=”center”]
Tom Morello Says ‘No Plans’ for Rage Against the Machine Beyond Reissue of Debut Album
Kevin Winter, Getty Images With the 20th anniversary edition of their self-titled debut set to be released Nov. 27, Rage Against the Machine fans are wondering if the band plans on recording a new album. Hopes were raised when bassist Tim Commerford said “maybe” when asked if the band was up to anything new, and then followed that up with the more emphatic ‘ definitely maybe ” a little while later. But now, guitarist Tom Morello in a new interview tells Billboard they have “no plans beyond” the release of ‘Rage Against the Machine: XX.’ “We’re really psyched to be putting this out for the fans,” Morello says of the deluxe reissue. “We are blessed with having perhaps the most passionate fans to ever listen to a bootlegged recording or mosh at a show, so I want to really give them a mother lode of Rage Against The Machine history, past and present.” RATM hasn’t released a studio album since 2000′s ‘Renegades,’ but reunited at Coachella in 2007 and have played sporadic live shows since then. Their last performance was in July of 2011 at the L.A. Rising Festival. In looking back at their debut album, Morello says it feels good that it’s as relevant as ever. “It doesn’t feel like 20 years, but at the same time it’s sobering that it is. There’s no crystal ball that we could’ve looked into when we were writing these songs in 1991 that would have told us we’d be talking about this record over two decades later.” Morello adds, ”And I will say that 20 years later we’re able to take pride in the fact that in the history of rock music there has never been a more popular band with as radical politics as Rage Against The Machine, nor has there been a band with more radical politics than Rage Against The Machine that has been as popular. That is the lasting testament to the first shot fired by this album and how it continues to resonate with rebels around the world.” ‘Rage Against the Machine – XX’ can be pre-ordered here . Click below to see the full track listing. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/rage-against-the-machine-20th-anniversary-editions-self-titled-debut-album/” title=”‘Rage Against the Machine – XX’ Track List” align=”center”] ?