Bio
Tom Morello is an ACLU Artist Ambassador for Smart Justice. Co-founder of Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave and Prophets Of Rage, Tom Morello has made a name for himself throughout his storied career as a guitar-god and social justice warrior. His latest album “The Atlas Underground”, has transformed his sound by blending Marshall stack riff-rock with EDM and hip-hop to create his most ambitious artistic effort yet. Through collaborations with artists spanning all genres such as Bassnectar, Big Boi, and Marcus Mumford, Tom Morello sheds a light on important issues like immigration rights, police brutality and more. The highly regarded album has a thematic through line of social justice ghost stories that are exemplary of the issues the ACLU has been fighting for throughout the years.
In 2015, Morello was honored by the ACLU and received the Bill of Rights award for his lifelong support of issues central to the organization. “I’ve been devoted both musically and as an activist to fighting injustice at every turn,” says Morello. “Amid this heightened sense of impending doom, it’s now time to rally the troops in a last-ditch effort to save the planet, and our artistic souls. By challenging the boundaries of what music is and has sounded like before, you can open peoples’ eyes to changing the status quo in society.” In addition to advocating for social justice, Tom has continually pushed the limits of what one man can do with six strings.
At the 2019 SXSW Conference, Tom discussed his role as an activist and announced his Ambassadorship with the ACLU on our “At Liberty” podcast.