Tom Morello will be honored with the 2024 Woody Guthrie Prize.
Named after the late folk icon and presented by the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the award recognizes the Rage Against the Machine guitarist’s “outstanding contributions to music and activism, embodying the spirit of Woody Guthrie’s social consciousness and musical legacy.”
Previous recipients include Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez and Morello’s Prophets of Rage bandmate Chuck D.
“Woody Guthrie was a fearless agitator, a six string instigator, a poetic truth teller and a harmonizing hell raiser,” Morello says. “He was the original punk rocker whose life, music, art and lyrics were beacons of justice and liberation for the downtrodden and oppressed.”
He continues, “In my own work Woody has been an inspiration to tell it like I see it without compromise or apology and to play my songs (and his songs) on the picket line and at the barricade whenever and wherever people are taking a stand.”
Morello will receive the Woody Guthrie Prize during a ceremony in Tulsa on Sept. 25. For more info, visit WoodyGuthrieCenter.org.
Fittingly, news of the honor comes on Morello’s 60th birthday. Morello marked the milestone with a throwback childhood photo on Instagram alongside the caption, “60! Thanks for all the birthday wishes! Onward!”
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