Rage Against The Machine was asked to censor lyrics for a performance in 2009. Here’s how they responded…
Right before Christmas of 2009, Rage Against The Machine was booked to perform “Killing in the Name” on BBC Radio’s 5 Live Breakfast show. They were asked to exclude the final refrain, which repeats the phrase, “F**k you, I won’t do what you tell me!”
The live airing kicked off with a “Merry Christmas” and started smoothly.
Even as they approached the end of the song, lead singer Zack de la Rocha left out the expletives, singing only “I won’t do what you tell me” as tension built.
Then, in the final moments of the live performance, de la Rocha started yelling out the uncensored lyrics, sending BBC producers into a panic.
“Get rid of it!” one of the hosts shouted after the fourth F-bomb. “Sorry … That suddenly turned into something we weren’t expecting. Well, we were expecting it, and we asked them not to do it, and they did it anyway.”
Three days after this, Rage Against The Machine hit No. 1 on the UK singles chart, winning the battle with The X Factor winner Joe McElderry for the No. 1 spot on Christmas day.
Years later, RATM’s Tom Morello said about the moment: “100% of the proceeds of the single were donated to UK homeless charities. ‘Twas a Merry Christmas indeed!”
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