RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE's 'Killing In The Name' Surpasses One Billion Streams On SPOTIFY

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE's classic track "Killing In The Name" has surpassed one billion streams on Spotify.

In celebration of the milestone, the band's guitarist Tom Morello took to his account on X to share the following message: "'KILLING IN THE NAME' just hit 1 billion streams on Spotify! Thanks to all those who listened to it: those who love it, those who hate it, and those that have enjoyed it without understanding it. Righteous proof that rebel music and irony are alive and well."

Last November, in the lead-up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Morello blasted some so-called RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE fans for misconstruing the progressive politics he and his bandmates have stood for since the band's formation more than three decades ago.

"Never ceases to amaze me how many folks who've heard RATM are in Paul Ryan mode, having literally ZERO understanding of anything that band was about and even less understanding where any of us might stand on contemporary issues," he wrote on X. "Recently was talking to a couple at a restaurant who were big fans of 'Killing In The Name'. The nice lady said, 'I love that song. It helped me rage against my parents and later against the jab!' I said, 'Ma'am that song is about racist cops who often behave like the Ku Klux Klan in service of historical white supremacy and are boot licking lackeys and thugs of the racist capitalist ruling class.' She sat there chewing and blinking, chewing and blinking."

When one X user questioned Morello about his response to the lady at the restaurant, the guitarist responded: "My brother. She can do anything she damn well pleases. She can cough covid into her MAGA grandpa's mouth for all I care. But if she presumes to tell a fella who was actually in the room when the song was written what the song is 'really' about then I reserve the right to raise my hand and say, 'no, ma'am.'"

Morello has repeatedly said that "Killing In The Name" is an anti-establishment protest song against systemic racism and brutality in the U.S. police forces, with the first verse opening with the line "some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses". Despite this, American interrogators used "Killing In The Name" to torture detainees at Guantánamo Bay detention camp, playing the song at full volume during sensory deprivation sessions.

In 2009, an online campaign to get "Killing In The Name" to top the U.K. Christmas charts ahead of recurring champions from the talent show "The X Factor" was successful, backed by Dave Grohl, Paul McCartney and THE PRODIGY. The campaign earned RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE a Guinness world record for the fastest-selling digital track in the U.K.: 502,672 downloads in one week.

Back in 2022, Morello went on his official Twitter account and shared: "People who are offended by my politics on Twitter or Instagram, please know it's because you weren't intelligent enough to know what the music that you were listening to all these years was about. For the music, you're welcome, but if you're a white supremacist or a proto-fascist, that music isn't written for you. It's written against you."