Rage Against the Machine has canceled their 2023 North American tour dates as frontman Zack de la Rocha continues to recover from a torn Achilles tendon.
De la Rocha suffered the injury over the summer during the Chicago stop of the band’s reunion tour, which was originally scheduled for 2020 but postponed to this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The concert was only the second date on the tour, and de la Rocha performed the remaining shows while seated.
“It’s been almost three months since Chicago, and I still look down at my leg in disbelief,” de la Rocha writes in a social media statement. “Two years of waiting through the pandemic, hoping we would have an opening to be a band again and continue the work we started 30 some odd years ago. Rehearsing, training, reconciling, working our way back to form.”
“Then one and a half shows into it and my tendon tears,” he continues. “Felt like a sick joke the universe played on me.”
De la Rocha also shares that the tear was so severe that just 8% of his tendon was “left intact” and says he has a “lot of work and healing” ahead of him.
“It’s not simply a question of being able to perform again, but extends to basic functionality going forward,” de la Rocha writes.
“I hate canceling shows,” he adds. “I hate disappointing our fans. You have all waited so patiently to see us and that is never lost on me. I never take that for granted. For you I have the ultimate gratitude and respect.”
Those who purchased tickets to the affected shows, which were among the dates originally postponed from 2020, will be refunded.
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