It’s hard to overstate just how big a force Rage Against The Machine was in the 90s. Maybe one of the best examples is how they won a Grammy for the song “Tire Me”, despite the deep cut tune having no music video or radio airplay.
The song is from Rage Against The Machine’s sophomore album, Evil Empire, which was released in 1996. The following year, at the 39th Annual Grammy Awards, RATM was nominated in the Best Metal Performance category. They had some steep competition:
- “Shoots and Ladders” – Korn
- “Suicide Note Pt. I” – Pantera
- “I’m Your Boogie Man” – White Zombie
- “Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn)” – Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper
The fact that Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper did not win was wild. There was a sense of legacy there that would normally have reigned supreme at an industry award show. They’ve both been nominated multiple times, but never won.
Then there’s Pantera. Again, within the context of 1997, they would have seemed like a surefire winner. They’d previously been nominated in this category and would go on to be nominated two more times, but also never won.
And we can’t forget Korn. While “Shoots and Ladders” is a classic, you have to understand that they were the newest band on the scene at this time. Just being nominated was the industry acknowledging them.
The Grammys Nominated Rage Against the Machine once more, in 1999, for the song ‘No Shelter’
Rage Against The Machine winning this Grammy was not necessarily shocking, but it wasn’t predictable either. You could argue that it was the least familiar song out of the entire category. But that was the power of RATM. Their politically charged music was setting fires and making waves.
One section of “Tire Me” finds frontman Zack de la Rocha rhyming, “I wanna be Jackie Onassis / I wanna wear a pair of dark sunglasses / I wanna be Jackie O / Oh, oh, oh, please don’t die!“
It’s also notable that RATM had actually released three singles from Evil Empire: “Bulls on Parade”, “People of the Sun”, and “Vietnow”. Still, it was “Tire Me” that goes down in history as being Rage Against The Machine’s one and only Grammy win.
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