Tom Morello Pokes Fun at Elon Musk After Rage Against the Machine Comment

Tom Morello is raging against Elon Musk.

The Rage Against the Machine rocker took to social media on Sunday (Sept. 15) to poke fun at Elon Musk after the Tesla CEO tweeted, “Why are so many people raging FOR the machine?”

While it’s not clear that the post was a direct hit at RAGT, Morello responded to the sentiment, writing, “Funny cuz Elon was the kid on the cover of Evil Empire.” He also shared the cover art for the band’s 1996 sophomore album, Evil Empire, which features a young man on the cover who bears a resemblance to Musk.

Morello has a long history of political commentary in his music and beyond. Per The Harvard Crimson, Morello once described himself as “the only anarchist in a conservative high school.”

This month, he will be awarded with the 2024 Woody Guthrie Prize. The annual award recognizes a recipient who embodies the spirit of Guthrie’s social consciousness and musical legacy. Previous honorees include Pete Seeger, Mavis Staples, Kris Kristofferson, John Mellencamp, Chuck D, Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen and Pussy Riot as well as groundbreaking TV producer Norman Lear.

“Woody Guthrie was a fearless agitator, a six-string instigator, a poetic truth teller and a harmonizing hell raiser,” Morello said in a statement. “He was the original punk rocker whose life, music, art and lyrics were beacons of justice and liberation for the downtrodden and oppressed. 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.”