TOM MORELLO Names His ‘Hail Mary’ Moment

In a new interview with Paul Salfen of AMFM Magazine, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello was asked to name his “Hail Mary” moment, a term used to symbolize any situation where one must take a leap of faith despite low chances of success. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I would say that my ‘Hail Mary’ moment was this. When I was dropped from my record label I was in a band called LOCK UP on Geffen Records. And I had never known anyone that had a record deal before. And I had my chance at the brass ring and it didn’t work out. I had a couple hundred bucks in the bank account. And I had tried. I had listened to what managers and producers and record company people had said to try to be successful. It hadn’t worked out and I was done. I had my one chance and I blew it. And I remember sitting on my couch in my little apartment in Hollywood. And I said, ‘You know what, man? If I’m not gonna be famous, I’m never gonna play another note of music that I don’t believe in.’ And I stuck to that for the next 21 albums. And it was that shift of north star from trying to be successful to being an authentic artist, which is what created music that ended up connecting with people.”Tom recently released a new solo single, “Soldier In The Army Of Love”. The track was co-written by his “guitar wizard son”, 13-year-old Roman Morello.Last year, Tom Morello shared footage to Instagram of Roman playing RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE’s “Killing In The Name” with Tom’s RAGE bandmates Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk while the band was on tour in 2022.In March 2023, Tom told Rolling Stone magazine that Roman could already outplay him when it came to lead guitar, despite the fact that he was only 11 at the time.Roman Morello previously recorded a solo on fellow child prodigy Nandi Bushell’s 2021 single “The Children Will Rise Up”. The pair worked with the elder Morello to write the original anthem on which a swell of children’s voices promised that they would not be silenced when it came to shouting from the rooftops about environmental injustice.Tom was the sole member of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE who attended the band’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony last November at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE’s Rock Hall induction came after the band appeared on six ballots.In October 2022, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE canceled its North American tour, three months after singer Zack De La Rocha severed his left Achilles tendon, leaving a mere eight inches of the tendon intact.RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE’s comeback tour, which was first announced in 2019 and then delayed several times due to the pandemic, marked the first time the reunited rap-metal quartet had hit the road together since 2011.[embedded content]