After Olivia Rodrigo cited Rage Against the Machine as an influence on her latest album, Rage guitarist Tom Morello responded to the pop singer’s comments in a recent post on X (formerly Twitter). GUTS, Rodrigo’s second studio album, was released on September 8 and has received critical acclaim.
Videos by American Songwriter
On September 13, Morello tweeted a photo of Rodrigo along with a quote from her recent Rolling Stone interview. “[Rage Against the Machine] is my favorite band right now,” the 20-year-old singer’s quote reads. “Who would have guessed? @oliviarodrigo,” Morello captioned his tweet.
[RELATED: Olivia Rodrigo Has Been Listening to Rage Against the Machine]
“I have been listening to so much Rage Against the Machine this year,” Rodrigo originally told Rolling Stone. “I would just play it over and over again on my way to and from the studio.” Rodrigo also cited alternative rock band Babes in Toyland as a major influence while recording GUTS.
During an interview with The New York Times published on August 24, Rodrigo discussed how she wanted to bring a certain femininity to the rock genre when recording GUTS. “For me, that’s what music is, it’s expressing those feelings that are really hard to externalize, or that you feel aren’t societally acceptable to externalize. Especially as a girl,” Rodrigo stated. “[I] always loved rock music, and always wanted to find a way that I could make it feel like me, and make it feel feminine and still telling a story and having something to say that’s vulnerable and intimate.”
Rodrigo has just announced that she will be embarking on the Guts World Tour from February 23, 2024 to August 14. During the tour, The Breeders, PinkPantheress, Chappell Roan, and Remi Wolf will make appearances at certain shows.
In his own interview with Rolling Stone earlier this year, Morello opened up about whether fans should expect to see Rage Against the Machine live in concert again anytime soon. “We’ll see. If there is to be any more shows, we will announce it as a band. I don’t know. I know as much as you do, honestly. Right now we’re in a time of healing.”
“If there never is another show, I think that this tour made the case. It’s not about how much you tour. It’s about what it’s like during those moments when you do,” Morello continued. “Rage Against the Machine has played 19 shows in the past 12 years. And the resonance of those 19 shows feels, in talking to fans, like those were historical events that further the idea of what that band is like live onstage.”
Photo by Ollie Millington/Redferns
