Rage Against The Machine Confirmed To Headline Reading & Leeds

Rage Against The Machine have been confirmed to headline Reading & Leeds Festival this year.

The band are the second headliner to be announced after Liam Gallagher, who confirmed himself.

It's not their first go though, having topped the bill at the two-site festival both in 1996 and 2008.

It was a matter of time before they announced they would hit British shores, after they were confirmed to reform for a tour and headline slot at Coachella in 2020.

The band first formed in 1991, but they haven't played together since taking to the LA Rising stage in Los Angeles in 2011.

They also announced an extensive tour, after the previously confirmed warm up shows and festival slots, which include Coachella, Boston Calling and Firefly.

Supported by Run the Jewels, the band will kick off their seven-month run of dates, starting 26 March at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.

They'll hit major U.S. arenas across the spring and summer, including Chicago's United Center on 19 May.

On 10 and 11 August, they'll perform two huge consecutive nights at New York's Madison Square Garden, before they hit England for Reading and Leeds. They'll then finish the tour in Poland on 10 September.

Fans are holding out for more UK dates to be announced.

PA

The band haven't been together since then, although guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk have all performed in supergroup Prophets of Rage - alongside members of Cypress Hill and Public Enemy rapper Chuck D.

The news of their comeback comes as quite a shock, after comments made by Morello earlier on this year. He told fans not to 'wait around'.

Speaking to HardDrive Radio, he said: "There's no news on the Rage Against The Machine front.

"The times demand people standing up. That's what I'm doing with my stuff, what Prophets Of Rage is doing. Don't wait around for Rage Against The Machine. Form your own band and get it done."

If you cast your mind back to Christmas 2009, the group's song 'Killing in the Name' was propelled to No.1 in the singles chart following an internet campaign set up by fans, defeating X Factor winner Joe McElderry and marking the first time a winner of the show had failed to reach the coveted top spot since 2005.

As they promised during the campaign, Rage then took to London's Finsbury Park in June of the following year for a huge celebration gig.

Topics: Music, US Entertainment

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. She spent a few years working on festivals and events before joining LADbible. In her spare time, Amelia likes music and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

@ameliasward