TOM MORELLO Announces Passing Of His 102-Year-Old Mother MARY MORELLO

Tom Morello has announced the passing of his mother, Mary Morello, at the age of 102.

The RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist shared news of her passing on social media Sunday night (July 12),writing: "Mary Morello is forever with the Rebels of Light & Song. (1923-2026)."

The 62-year-old Tom took to Instagram to share photos of Mary, including one of him holding her hand.

Last month, Tom canceled his appearances at several European music festivals, including Tons Of Rock in Norway and the BBK Music Legends in Spain, in order to look after his ailing mother.

Mary Morello was an educator, humanitarian and lifelong activist who spent nearly a century standing on the front lines of the civil rights movement and advocating for racial equality, peace, education, and human dignity. Her work saw her fiercely oppose Jim Crow laws, aid anti-colonial movements in Africa, support the United Farm Workers and Urban League, as well as speak out against apartheid and the Persian Gulf War.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN's Serj Tankian paid tribute to Mary Morello, writing, "We will all miss Mary dearly. She was an inspiration." METALLICA commented: "Much love to you and your family, Tom." MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx also shared his condolences, writing: "So sorry for your loss. What a warrior."

During a December 2024 appearance on "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie, Morello spoke about his passion for fusing music with his profound sense of social justice. He said: "I was an activist before I was a guitar player. I didn't start playing guitar until I was 17, and I was already getting in trouble for my student activism at 16. Really, my political education did not begin with any books. It began with being the only black kid in an all-white town and some of the racial injustice I felt on the playground from a very, very early age. But also my mom, Mary Morello, we have very different politics… I grew up in a very conservative, homogenous conservative suburb in northern Illinois, and the politics in my home were very different from the politics in the community. It really helped me sort of get a juxtaposition. My mom had lived in many places around the world, and as a single mom, public high school teacher, we had very humble means, but from her kind of coal-mining ancestors in Illinois to the African liberation struggles she had seen and been a part of on the African continent, it was a very different set of like rules and regulations in my house. And I've always thought that standing up for the poor, standing up for the oppressed — also from my Catholic upbringing, too, there was also a strong liberation theology elements of always standing up for those that are most in need has always kind of been a part of my DNA and I've tried to work it into my vocation… I didn't choose to be a guitar player; that chose me. So I was stuck with that. I had to find a way to weave my convictions into my vocation."

In a 2025 interview with Australia's The Project, Tom stated about his mother:  "She's inspirational in a lot of ways. She very much continues to be an inspiration for everything that I do. And back then, when my noisy, lousy high school punk rock band, she was the only basement that we could practice in town, and now she lives next door to me, and my studio is in her basement. So once again I'm playing in her basement."

In a 2021 opinion piece for The New York Times, Tom described his mother, who was a former high school history teacher, as "the most radical and the most popular member of the Morello family. To this day I hear from her former students. Many say she was the most important educator in their lives and pushed them to see beyond the borders of our conservative, homogeneous suburb. She helped them learn to care and advocate for people less fortunate, people oppressed by race and class from Cabrini Green in Chicago to the migrant fields of California. She didn't take crap from anyone, but taught with humor and acceptance, inspiring generations of students.

"Which is not surprising given her history," he added. "In the 1930s she helped feed hobos during the Great Depression and supported the coal miners’ struggle to organize. In the 1940s she helped raise war bonds to defeat the fascists in World War II. In the 1950s she taught international students at Northern Illinois University and opposed racist Jim Crow laws, and as a single woman with modest means she’s traveled to over 60 countries. In the 1960s she aided anticolonial movements while living in Africa. In the 1970s she was a radical teacher in a conservative high school inspiring students to challenge the system, and aided the United Farm Workers and the Urban League. In the 1980s she went on nine peace missions to the Soviet Union and Cuba. In the 1990s she opposed the Persian Gulf war and founded an international organization to oppose music censorship called Parents For Rock And Rap, which landed her on 'Oprah' and CNN. In the 2000s she helped homeless people and recovering addicts get their high school diplomas at the Salvation Army in Waukegan, Ill., and marched in Chicago against wars for oil. In the 2010s she volunteered at local soup kitchens in Los Angeles.

"My mom taught me that justice is more important than unity, and that unconditional love and support is a pretty sound parenting baseline," he added.