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Recently, Rage Against the Machine -- inactive since 2011 -- launched a website counting down to June 1, adorned with #TakeThePowerBack, which also appeared on posters displayed around their hometown of Los Angeles. Naturally, people wondered if Rage was getting back together.
Well, not quite. ProphetsOfRage.com (a website that is no longer loading, as of press time) is actually proclaiming a whole new group. Sources tell Billboard that three-quarters of the storied band -- guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk -- are joining forces with Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Cypress Hill’s B-Real to form a supergroup called Prophets of Rage (referencing a Public Enemy song of the same name from the 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back) to perform songs by all three bands.
Rage vocalist Zack de la Rocha is not involved.
The band's debut is set for Hollywood Palladium on June 3, with a show at L.A.'s Whisky a Go Go planned as well. A 2016 summer tour is also being considered.
Rage Against the Machine’s full lineup has not performed since a July 2011 show at L.A. Rising fest.
Worth noting: With election season ramping up, these self-anointed prophets should have plenty of rage to pull from.