Born Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha on the 12th January 1970 in Venice Beach, California USA, he is a musician, singer and songwriter, but best known to the world as the lead singer of the rap metal band Rage Against the Machine from 1991 until 2000, and again from 2007 until 2011 when the group finally disbanded. He has been involved in several other projects, including One Day as a Lion, among many others.
Zack de la Rocha net worth is
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Full Name | Zack de la Rocha |
Net Worth | $50 Million |
Date Of Birth | January 12, 1970 |
Place Of Birth | Venice Beach, California USA |
Height | 1.78 m |
Profession | Musician |
Nationality | American |
Parents | Robert de la Rocha, Olivia Lorryne Carter |
https://www.facebook.com/zdlr | |
https://twitter.com/zackdelarocha | |
IMDB | http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0209371/ |
Music Groups | Rage Against the Machine, One Day as a Lion (Since 2008), Inside Out (1988 – 1991) |
Movies | Rage Against the Machine, Live at Finsbury Park, Zapatista, Live at Finsbury Park, Rage Against the Machine, Zapatista |
# | Trademark |
---|---|
1 | Frantic rap-style Delivery |
2 | Beard |
3 | Often gives short fiery speeches during concerts that reflect his views |
4 | Profanity laden rants and lyrics |
5 | Dreadlocks |
6 | Raw vocals |
7 | Wild, aggressive dancing and stage antics |
# | Quote |
---|---|
1 | One of the great things about young people is that they do question, that they do care deeply about justice, and they they have open minds. |
2 | Your anger is a gift. |
3 | Governor Jan Brewer and the Arizona legislature have created an environment in Arizona where performing is no longer a neutral act. They have created an environment where they can convert the normal commercial interaction between artists and their fans into the means to apply this racist law. |
4 | I'm in this band to give volume to various struggles throughout the world. To me, the tension in this band is a minimal sacrifice. |
5 | There are many Sheriff Arpaios. People who have taken to local city, county, and state governments across the county the idea that immigrants are the problem. That immigrants are to blame. |
# | Fact |
---|---|
1 | Released One Day as a Lion's self-titled EP. [July 2008] |
2 | Touring with the re-formed 'Rage Against The Machine', having just finished the Big Day Out festival concerts in Australia and New Zealand. [March 2008] |
3 | Working on his solo record with DJ Shadow and Trent Reznor. [October 2003] |
4 | Vocalist and keyboardist of the alternative rap duo One Day as a Lion, featuring former The Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore. |
5 | Is a Vegetarian. |
6 | Is Chicano. |
7 | The lead singer of the band Rage Against the Machine. De la Rocha left the band in 2001 after he felt 'they weren't taking enough musical risks.' His bandmates later formed Audioslave with Chris Cornell. After Audioslave disbanded in 2007, Rage Against the Machine was revived and de la Rocha rejoined the band. |
8 | His father, Beto, was a muralist. |
Soundtrack
Title | Year | Status | Character |
---|---|---|---|
One Hit Wonderland | 2012-2015 | TV Series documentary writer - 2 episodes | |
My Mad Fat Diary | 2013-2014 | TV Series writer - 2 episodes | |
Sound City | 2013 | Documentary writer: 'Killing in the Name' | |
Pauw & Witteman | TV Series performer - 1 episode, 2012 writer - 1 episode, 2012 | ||
P.O.V. | 2011 | TV Series documentary writer - 1 episode | |
Ruisrock - 40 vuotta rockia ja rakkautta | 2011 | TV Movie documentary lyrics: 'Bulls on Parade' - as Zack de la Rocha | |
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front | 2011 | Documentary writer: 'Sleep Now In The Fire' | |
Live from Studio Five | TV Series performer - 1 episode, 2009 writer - 1 episode, 2009 | ||
Madden NFL 2010 | 2009 | Video Game lyrics: 'Guerrilla Radio' / writer: 'Guerrilla Radio' | |
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock | 2007 | Video Game writer: 'Bulls On Parade' | |
Dirty Sexy Money | 2007 | TV Series writer - 1 episode | |
Guitar Hero II | 2006 | Video Game writer: 'KILLING IN THE NAME OF' - as Z De La Rocha | |
Coachella | 2006 | Video documentary writer: 'Om Nia Merican' - as Zach De La Rocha | |
Audioslave: Live in Cuba | 2005 | Video documentary lyrics: 'Bulls on Parade/Sleep Now in the Fire' | |
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | 2004 | Video Game writer: 'Killing In The Name' - as Zack M. DeLaRocha | |
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle | 2003 | writer: 'Sleep Now in the Fire' | |
The Matrix Reloaded | 2003 | writer: 'Calm Like a Bomb' | |
S.P.U.N.G | 2002 | TV Series writer - 1 episode | |
Last Party 2000 | 2001 | Documentary writer: 'Bulls on Parade' - uncredited | |
This Is What Democracy Looks Like | 2000 | Documentary writer: 'Guerrilla Radio' | |
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 | 2000 | Video Game writer: 'Guerrilla Radio' - as Zack De Rocha | |
Bamboozled | 2000 | performer: 'Burn Hollywood Burn' / writer: 'Burn Hollywood Burn' | |
The Matrix | 1999 | writer: 'Wake Up' | |
Godzilla | 1998/I | arranger: 'No Shelter' - as Zack de la Rocha / writer: 'No Shelter' - as Zack de la Rocha | |
Daria | 1997 | TV Series writer - 1 episode | |
Higher Learning | 1995 | lyrics: 'YEAR OF THE BOOMERANG', 'TIRE ME' - as Zack de la Rocha | |
Natural Born Killers | 1994 | lyrics: 'Bombtrack', 'Take the Power Back' - as Zach de la Rocha |
Composer
Title | Year | Status | Character |
---|---|---|---|
Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Mexico City | 2001 | Video documentary | |
Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Los Angeles | 2001 | Video | |
Rage Against the Machine | 1997 | Video documentary |
Self
Title | Year | Status | Character |
---|---|---|---|
Children of the Revolution: Tune Back In | Documentary completed | ||
Orange County Hardcore Scenester | 2011 | Documentary | Himself |
The Rage Factor: Rage Against the Machine Live from London | 2011 | Video | Himself |
Rage Against the Machine: Live on the BBC | 2009 | TV Movie | Himself |
Last Call with Carson Daly | 2007 | TV Series | Himself |
MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamérica 2003 | 2003 | TV Special | Himself - Presenter |
25 Years of Punk | 2001 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Mexico City | 2001 | Video documentary | Himself |
Rage Against the Machine: The Battle of Los Angeles | 2001 | Video | Himself |
MTV Video Music Awards 2000 | 2000 | TV Special | Himself - Performer (as Rage Against the Machine) |
Zapatista | 1999 | Documentary | Himself (Rage Against The Machine singer) |
Free Tibet | 1998 | Documentary | Himself (Rage Against the Machine) |
Rage Against the Machine | 1997 | Video documentary | Himself |
The Word | 1993 | TV Series | Himself |
Archive Footage
Title | Year | Status | Character |
---|---|---|---|
Provokation | 2015 | Documentary short | Himself |
The Ultimate Song | 2002 | Video documentary | Himself (member of Rage Against the Machine) |
Known for movies
Tags
Biography
Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha (born January 12, 1970) is an American musician and activist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of rap metal/funk metal band Rage Against the Machine. He left Rage Against the Machine in October 2000 and embarked on a solo career, although the band reunited from 2007 to 2011. With former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore, de la Rocha also co-founded One Day as a Lion in 2008.
Early life
Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha was born in Long Beach, California on January 12, 1970, to a Mexican-American father (the artist Robert 'Beto' de la Rocha, born 1937), and a mother of German and Irish origin, Olivia Lorryne Carter (born 1941). His father was of partial Sephardic Jewish descent and played an integral part in his cultural upbringing. Beto was a muralist and a member of Los Four, the first Chicano art collective to be exhibited at a museum (LACMA, 1973). De la Rocha's paternal grandfather, Isaac de la Rocha Beltrán (1910–1985), was a Mexican revolutionary who fought in the Mexican Revolution and worked as an agricultural labourer in the U.S. De la Rocha would later see the hardships his grandfather endured reflected in the struggles of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.
De la Rocha's parents divorced when he was six years old, and he moved from East Los Angeles to Irvine with his mother, who attended the University of California at Irvine and ultimately earned a Ph.D. in anthropology. De la Rocha later described Irvine as 'one of the most racist cities imaginable' and said that 'if you were a Mexican in Irvine, you were there because you had a broom or a hammer in your left hand'. De la Rocha became a vegetarian as a teenager.
Musical career
Early career
De la Rocha met Tim Commerford in elementary school, and in junior high school, they both played guitar in a band called Juvenile Expression. De la Rocha's interest in punk rock bands like The Clash, The Misfits, Sex Pistols, and Bad Religion turned into an appreciation for other bands like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, and The Teen Idles. In high school, he joined the straight edge band Hardstance, which evolved into the hardcore band Inside Out around 1988 and gained a national underground following. The band released a single record, No Spiritual Surrender, on Revelation Records in 1990 before breaking up. De la Rocha later said that the band was 'about completely detaching ourselves from society to see ourselves as .. as spirits, and not bowing down to a system that sees you as just another pebble on a beach. I channeled all my anger out through that band.'
Rage Against the Machine
Following the dissolution of Inside Out in 1991, de la Rocha embraced hip hop and began freestyling at local clubs, at one of which he was approached by former Lock Up guitarist Tom Morello, who was impressed by de la Rocha's lyrics, and convinced him to form a band. Morello recruited former Greta drummer Brad Wilk–who had previously auditioned for Lock Up before that band's dissolution earlier that same year–and de la Rocha recruited his former Juvenile Expression bandmate, Tim Commerford, to play bass. The band was named for an unreleased Inside Out song, Rage Against the Machine.
Rage Against the Machine was on the main stage at Lollapalooza by 1993 and was one of the most politically charged bands ever to receive extensive airplay from radio and MTV. Rage's second and third albums peaked at number one in the United States, but did not result in the political action de la Rocha had hoped for. He became increasingly restless and undertook collaborations with artists such as KRS-One, Chuck D, and Public Enemy. He left Rage Against the Machine in October 2000, citing 'creative differences,' at which time he issued a statement saying: 'it was necessary to leave Rage because our decision-making process has completely failed', in reference to the disagreement over the release of Renegades. The other members of the band sought out separate management and secured the immediate release of Renegades. After searching for a replacement for de la Rocha, the other members of Rage joined Chris Cornell of Soundgarden to form Audioslave.
Solo career
Zack de la Rocha on stage with Rage Against the Machine in 2007
Following the disbandment of Rage Against the Machine, de la Rocha worked on a solo album he had been recording since before the band's dissolution, working with DJ Shadow, El-P, Muggs, Dan The Automator, Roni Size, DJ Premier and Questlove with production partner James Poyser. The album never came to fruition, and de la Rocha started a new collaboration with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, in which around 20 tracks were produced. Reznor thought the work was 'excellent', but said the songs will likely never be released as de la Rocha was not 'ready to make a record' at that time. On working with DJ Shadow and Reznor, de la Rocha admitted in a 2008 interview that:
When I left Rage .. first off, I was very heartbroken, and secondly, I became obsessed with completely reinventing my wheel. In an unhealthy way, to a degree. I kind of forgot that old way of allowing yourself to just be a conduit. When I was working with Trent and Shadow, I felt that I was going through the motions. Not that what was produced wasn't great, but I feel now that I've maybe reinvented the base sounds that emanate from the songs.
In 2000, de la Rocha appeared on the song 'Centre of the Storm', from the Roni Size/Reprazent album In The Mode, while in 2002, he appeared in a minor role in the first part of the Blackalicious song 'Release' on the album Blazing Arrow. A new collaboration between de la Rocha and DJ Shadow, the song 'March of Death' was released for free online in 2003 in protest against the imminent invasion of Iraq. As part of the collaboration de la Rocha released a statement which included the following:
Lies, sanctions, and cruise missiles have never created a free and just society. Only everyday people can do that, which is why I'm joining the millions world wide who have stood up to oppose the Bush administration's attempt to expand the U.S. empire at the expense of human rights at home and abroad. In this spirit I'm releasing this song for anyone who is willing to listen. I hope it not only makes us think, but also inspires us to act and raise our voices.
Zack De La Rocha Trump
The 2004 soundtrack Songs and Artists that Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11 included one of the collaborations with Reznor, 'We Want It All'. This album also contained 'No One Left', the debut recording by former Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello as The Nightwatchman. On October 7, 2005, de la Rocha returned to the stage with new material, performing with Son Jarocho band Son de Madera. He later spoke as MC and again performed with Son de Madera at the November 22 Concert at the Farm, a benefit concert for the South Central Farmers. He sang and played the jarana with the band, and performed his own new original material, including the song 'Sea of Dead Hands'.
Rage Against the Machine reunion
De la Rocha performing with Rage Against the Machine at Coachella 2007
Rumors that Rage Against the Machine could reunite at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival were circulating in mid-January 2007, and were confirmed on January 22. The band was confirmed to be headlining the final day of Coachella 2007. Rage Against the Machine, as a full band, headlined the final day of the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 29. The band played in front of a Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) backdrop to the largest crowds of the festival. The performance was initially thought to be a one-off, but this turned out not to be the case. The band played 7 more shows in the United States in 2007, and in January 2008, they played their first shows outside the US as part of the Big Day Out Festival in Australia and New Zealand. The band continued to tour around the world, headlining many large festivals in Europe and the United States, including Lollapalooza in Chicago and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. In a 2008 interview, de la Rocha said this of the relationship between him, Commerford, Wilk and Morello:
So much has changed. When you get older, you look back on tensions and grievances and have another perspective on it. I think our relationship now is better than it's ever been. I would even describe it as great. We're going to keep playing shows – we have a couple of big ones happening in front of both conventions. As far as us recording music in the future, I don't know where we all fit with that. We've all embraced each other's projects and support them, and that's great.
Later in 2011, de la Rocha and the rest of Rage Against the Machine reunited for one final show, headlining, LA Rising July 30, 2011. The show was a great success, filling the LA Coliseum. The band has not played together since.
One Day as a Lion
In 2008, de la Rocha and former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore formed One Day as a Lion. They later added Joey Karam of The Locust on keyboards for their live shows. The group combines rock drumming, electro keyboards, and hip-hop vocals. De la Rocha played keyboards as well as providing vocals, with Theodore on the drums for their self-titled EP. The band's name derives from a black and white graffiti photograph taken by Chicano photographer George Rodriguez in 1970 with a caption reading: 'It's better to live one day as a lion, than a thousand years as a lamb'. This comes from a minatory slogan popular during the 1930s in Fascist Italy, 'Better one day as a lion than a hundred days as a sheep.' The saying is an allusion to Psalms 84:10, 'Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.' They released their debut EP, One Day as a Lion, on July 22, 2008.
Solo album
In an article published in Billboard, it was announced that work had been completed on de la Rocha's first solo album, which he had been working on at least since his departure from RATM in 2000 and, by some accounts, as early as 1995. Trent Reznor, DJ Shadow, Questlove from The Roots, and El-P were said to have produced the album or portions of it. For a time, it seemed to have been shelved indefinitely. However, on September 8, 2016, it was reported that de la Rocha's first solo album was complete and would be released in early 2017. The news came with a new song, produced by El-P, called 'Digging for Windows' that was released on YouTube and BitTorrent. However, to date, the album remains unreleased with no further announcements made.
Activism
De la Rocha advocates in favor of Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and the Zapatista (EZLN) movement in Mexico. He spoke on the floor of the UN, testifying against the United States and its treatment of Abu-Jamal. De la Rocha has been particularly outspoken on the cause of the EZLN. He explained the importance of the cause to him personally.
Zack's Chicano identity informed his band's commitment to the struggles of immigrants, people of color, and the Zapatistas. He renamed the People's Resource Center in Highland Park the Centro de Regeneracion. There, many of the same artists and activists who had participated in the struggle over the Peace and Justice Center maintained their commitment to providing youth a space for cultural expression and training. Along with music workshops and the development of Radio Clandestina, Centro members also organized graffiti workshops and youth film festivals. Although the Centro lasted only two years, it was an important space in the ongoing institutionalization of the community politics, cultural practices, and social networks of the Eastside scene in the nineties.
The EZLN and de la Rocha's experiences with them inspired the songs 'People of the Sun', 'Wind Below' and 'Without a Face' from Evil Empire, and 'War Within a Breath' from The Battle of Los Angeles. Zack de la Rocha asked their record label, Epic Records, for $30,000 to donate to the EZLN. It is not known if they complied. The EZLN flag has been used as a stage backdrop at all of the band's shows since their reunion in April, 2007. On his post-Rage political music, de la Rocha admitted that it was near impossible for him to draw the line between politics and music.
On April 14, 2007, Morello and de la Rocha reunited on-stage early to perform a brief acoustic set at House of Blues in Chicago at the rally for fair food with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). Morello described the event as 'very exciting for everybody in the room, myself included.' At Rage's first reunion show, de la Rocha made a speech during 'Wake Up' in which de la Rocha called numerous American presidents war criminals, citing a statement by Noam Chomsky regarding the Nuremberg Principles.
Discography
Hard Stance
De la Rocha played guitar on the following albums:
- Face Reality (EP) 7' (1988)
- Hard Stance (EP) 7' (1989)
Inside Out
De la Rocha credited for vocals:
- No Spiritual Surrender (1990)
- Benefit 7' (live bootleg recording with Youth of Today) (1991)
Rage Against the Machine
De la Rocha credited for vocals:
- Rage Against the Machine (1992)
- Evil Empire (1996)
- Live & Rare (1998)
- The Battle of Los Angeles (1999)
- Renegades (2000)
One Day as a Lion
De la Rocha credited for vocals and keyboards:
- One Day as a Lion (2008)
Solo and collaborations
- 'Mumia 911' from Mumia 911, a benefit EP also featuring a dozen hiphop artists collectively known as The Unbound Allstars (1999)
- 'C.I.A. (Criminals in Action)' with KRS-One and The Last Emperor, from Lyricist Lounge, Volume One compilation and remixed on 12' vinyl single (reissued in 2002), (1999)
- 'Burned Hollywood Burned' from Bamboozled soundtrack (2000) with Chuck D and The Roots
- 'Centre of the Storm' from In the Møde, Roni Size/Reprazent (2000)
- 'Release' from Blazing Arrow, Blackalicious (2002)
- 'Disavowed' from You Can't Go Home Again (The Private Press era), DJ Shadow (additional drums and co-production) (2002)
- 'March of Death' with DJ Shadow, free on marchofdeath.com (2003)
- 'We Want It All' from Songs and Artists That Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11 and digital single (2004)
- 'Act III Scene 2 (Shakespeare)' from Saul Williams, Saul Williams (2004)
- 'Artifact' with DJ Shadow, unreleased, recorded circa 2002–2003; the instrumental appeared on DJ Shadow's album The Outsider (2006)
- 'Somos Más Americanos' from 'MTV Unplugged presents: Los Tigres del Norte And Friends' Los Tigres del Norte (2011)
- 'Melding of the Minds' from Event II, Deltron 3030 (2013)
- 'Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)' from Run the Jewels 2 (2014)
- 'Digging for Windows' produced by El-P (2016)
- 'A Report To The Shareholders / Kill Your Masters' from Run the Jewels 3 (2016)
The 1990s music scene was unique in that the two genres that dominated the charts—alternative rock and rap—seemed to have little in common. But that perception would change in 1991 when a Los Angeles Chicano named Zack de la Rocha melded the two art forms together in the rap-rock outfit Rage Against the Machine. Influenced by punk bands such as Minor Threat and militant rap groups such as Public Enemy, de la Rocha delivered angry rhymes about social injustice over heavy metal riffs as front-man of the group. His biography reveals how personal experiences with discrimination led de la Rocha to pen raps that challenged racism and inequality.
Early Years
Zack de la Rocha was born Jan. 12, 1970, in Long Beach, Calif., to parents Roberto and Olivia. Because his parents parted ways when he was very small, de la Rocha initially split his time between his Mexican-American father, a muralist in the group “Los Four,” and his German-Irish mother, a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Irvine. After his father began to exhibit signs of mental illness, destroying artwork and praying and fasting nonstop, Zack de la Rocha lived exclusively with his mother in Irvine. In the 1970s the Orange County suburb was nearly all white.
Irvine was the polar opposite of Lincoln Heights, the predominantly Mexican-American community of Los Angeles that de la Rocha’s father called home. Because of his Hispanic heritage, de la Rocha felt racially alienated in Orange County. He told Rolling Stone magazine in 1999 how humiliated he felt when his teacher used the racially offensive term “wetback” and his classmates erupted in laughter.
“I remember sitting there, about to explode,” he said. “I realized that I was not of these people. They were not my friends. And I remember internalizing it, how silent I was. I remember how afraid I was to say anything.”
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From that day forward, de la Rocha vowed never again to remain silent in the face of ignorance.
Inside Out
After reportedly dabbling in drugs for a spell, de la Rocha became a fixture in the straight-edge punk scene. In high school he formed the band Hard Stance, serving as vocalist and guitarist for the group. After that, de la Rocha launched the band Inside Out in 1988. Signed to the Revelation Records label, the group came out with an EP called No Spiritual Surrender. Despite some industry success, the group’s guitarist decided to leave and Inside Out disbanded in 1991.
Rage Against the Machine
After Inside Out broke up, de la Rocha began to explore hip-hop, rapping, and break-dancing in clubs. When Harvard-educated guitarist Tom Morello spotted de la Rocha performing a freestyle rap in a club, he approached the budding MC afterward. The two men found that they both espoused radical political ideologies and decided to share their viewpoints with the world through song. In Fall 1991, they formed rap-rock band Rage Against the Machine, named after an Inside Out song. In addition to de la Rocha on vocals and Morello on guitar, the band included Brad Wilk on drums and Tim Commerford, a childhood friend of de la Rocha, on bass.
The band soon developed a following in L.A.’s music scene. Just a year after RATM formed, the band released a self-titled album on influential label Epic Records. While promoting the album in 1992, de la Rocha explained to the Los Angeles Times his mission for the group.
“I wanted to think of something metaphorically that would describe my frustrations toward America, toward this capitalist system and how it has enslaved and exploited and created a very unjust situation for a lot of people,” he said.
The message resonated with the public. The album went triple platinum. It included references to Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, South African apartheid, a Eurocentric educational curriculum, Fand other social issues. The band’s sophomore album Evil Empire, a reference to a Ronald Reagan speech on the Cold War, touched on de la Rocha’s Hispanic heritage with songs such as “People of the Sun,” “Down Rodeo” and “Without a Face.” Evil Empire also achieved triple platinum status. The band’s last two albums the Battle of Los Angeles (1999) and Renegades (2000), went double platinum and platinum, respectively.
Although Rage Against the Machine was undoubtedly one of the most influential bands of the 1990s, de la Rocha decided to leave the band in October 2000. He cited creative differences but stressed that he was pleased with what the band had accomplished.
'I am extremely proud of our work, both as activists and musicians, as well as indebted and grateful to every person who has expressed solidarity and shared this incredible experience with us,' he said in a statement.
A New Chapter
Almost seven years after the breakup, Rage Against the Machine fans received some long-awaited news: the band was reuniting. The group performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., in April 2007. The reason for the reunion? The band said it felt compelled to speak out in light of Bush administration policies they found intolerable.
Since the reunion, the band has yet to release more albums. The members are involved in independent projects. De la Rocha, for one, performs in the group One Day as a Lion with former Mars Volta member Jon Theodore. The band released a self-titled EP in 2008 and performed at Coachella in 2011.
Musician-activist de la Rocha also launched an organization called Sound Strike in 2010. The organization encourages musicians to boycott Arizona in light of the state’s controversial legislation targeting undocumented immigrants. In a Huffington Post piece, de la Rocha and Salvador Reza said of the strike:
“The human impact of what is happening to immigrants and their families in Arizona calls into question the same moral and ethical imperatives that the civil rights movement did. Are we all equal before the law? To what extent can states and local law enforcement officers engage in human and civil rights violations against an ethnic group that has been completely vilified in the eyes of the white political majority?”
Zack de la Rocha is an American musician and activist, born in Long Beach, California on January 12, 1970. He is best known as the singer of the rock band Rage Against the Machine. While in high school he joined the band Hard Stance that evolved into the band Inside Out. The band released a single album together titled No Spiritual Surrender in 1990. In 1991 he helped form the band Rage Against the Machine. While together they released 4 studio albums, 2 live albums, and 17 singles. They won two Grammy Awards and were nominated for a total of six. In 2008 they were inducted into the Kerrang Hall of Fame. In 2000 the band broke up and Zack decided to pursue a solo career. He worked on a solo album and a number of songs, but none were ever released. In 2007 Rage Against the Machine reunited and toured around the United States and internationally until 2011. In 2008 Zack helped form the band One Day as a Lion and they released one EP while together titled One Day as a Lion. He has also been involved in activism for a number of different causes and spoke on the floor of UN about the treatment of Abu-Jamal by the United States.
Artist Biography by Kieran McCarthy
Zack de la Rocha is one of the biggest and most well-respected names in alternative music, known equally for his militant political activism and passionate vocal delivery. In the '90s he rose to fame as frontman for Rage Against the Machine, and used that pedestal as a catalyst to further his left-wing political beliefs. To understand the motives for de la Rocha's vocal stylings, one must first trace back his philosophical roots. His story begins in Irvine, CA, during the '70s and '90s, with de la Rocha growing up as a Hispanic youth in one of the most ethnically white areas of California. His mother was an anthropology Ph.D. and his father, Belo de la Rocha, was a well-known muralist, famous for his paintings of Zapatista farmers. His parents separated at an early age and Zack split his time between his two parents. When Zack was 13 years old, his father had a nervous breakdown and subjected his son to extreme religious asceticism. Soon, he could no longer cope with his father's fanaticism and chose to move in with his mother full-time.
Within a few years, de la Rocha began to express his feelings of anger and isolation by listening to hardcore punk music, including Minor Threat, Black Flag, and Bad Religion. Before long, he had joined his first high-school band, Hardstance, where he contributed both guitars and vocals. This band later evolved into Inside Out, which would eventually release one album on Revelation Records in 1991. As he grew older, he strayed away from his rock influences and became increasingly affected by a stream of hip-hop artists, such as KRS-One and Run-D.M.C. This is about the time when he bumped into Tom Morello, a Harvard-educated political science major and kindred soul in socialist thought. The two clicked musically and intellectually and started a band together, which de la Rocha dubbed Rage Against the Machine. With a backdrop of heavy metal riffs and Morello's clever distortion techniques, de la Rocha's hip-hop-tinged vocals singed with unparalleled intensity. It wasn't long before the two were on the main stage at Lollapalooza II and became one of the most politically volatile bands ever to receive extensive radio and MTV airtime.
Soon, de la Rocha became one of the most visible champions of liberal causes around the world. The band's first video, 'Freedom,' was a mini-documentary about the plight of Leonard Peltier, a Native American convicted of killing two FBI agents. De la Rocha also became a prominent spokesman for the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal movement and picked up his father's cause in support of Zapatista rebels in Mexico. De la Rocha's activism took him as far as the floor of the U.N., where he testified against the United States in their treatment of Abu-Jamal. The band's music and message were so closely intertwined that de la Rocha did not consider his albums successes unless they resulted in tangible political change. Their second and third albums both peaked at number one, but the political windfall was not what he had hoped for. Increasingly restless, he embarked upon collaborative projects with KRS-One and Chuck D. By the end of 2000, de la Rocha announced that he was leaving the band.
In 2001, de la Rocha was recording, on separate occasions, with Roots drummer ?uestlove and former Company Flow frontman El-P, as well as with producers DJ Shadow, Dan the Automator, Roni Size, and DJ Premier. Rumors of a potential release date circulated, but the project was ultimately scrapped. Soon after, de la Rocha took on another endeavor with Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor, but of the 20 songs that the duo recorded, only 'We Want It All' saw the light of day, on the 2004 compilation Songs and Artists That Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11. Aside from making some appearances at political rallies and guesting on other artists' albums -- including Blazing Arrow by Blackalicious and In the Mode by Roni Size & Reprazent -- de la Rocha remained relatively quiet as a solo artist until 2008, when he teamed up with onetime Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore to form One Day as a Lion.
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