Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha[1] (born January 12, 1970) is an American musician, rapper, singer, songwriter, and political activist.

[2][3] Through both Rage Against the Machine and his activism, de la Rocha promotes left-wing politics in opposition to corporate America, the military-industrial complex, and government oppression.

Now lacking a guitarist, the remaining members contacted Vic DiCara, whom some knew from their previous band that never made it past rehearsals.

While de la Rocha's influence was prevalent on performed yet unreleased Inside Out tracks like Darkness of Greed and Rage Against the Machine, the band broke up because of this conflict in 1991.

Rage's second and third albums peaked at number one in the United States, but did not result in the political action de la Rocha had hoped for.

After searching for a replacement for de la Rocha, the other members of Rage joined Chris Cornell of Soundgarden to form Audioslave.

[23] The album never came to fruition, and de la Rocha started a new collaboration with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, in which around 20 tracks were produced.

[24] Reznor thought the work was "excellent",[24] but said the songs will likely never be released as de la Rocha was not "ready to make a record" at that time.

[25] On working with DJ Shadow and Reznor, de la Rocha admitted in a 2008 interview that: When I left Rage ... first off, I was very heartbroken, and secondly, I became obsessed with completely reinventing my wheel.

[28] A new collaboration between de la Rocha and DJ Shadow, the song "March of Death" was released for free online in 2003 in protest against the imminent invasion of Iraq.

As part of the collaboration de la Rocha released a statement which included the following: Lies, sanctions, and cruise missiles have never created a free and just society.

Only everyday people can do that, which is why I'm joining the millions world wide who have stood up to oppose the Bush administration's attempt to expand the U.S. empire at the expense of human rights at home and abroad.

Rumors that Rage Against the Machine could reunite at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival were circulating in mid-January 2007 and were confirmed on January 22.

Rage Against the Machine, as a full band, headlined the final day of the 2007 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 29.

[33] The band was scheduled to perform 52 shows (39 in the United States, 5 in Canada, and 8 in Europe) from March 26 to September 12[34] but were forced to postpone the tour until 2022 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

[40] De la Rocha advocates in favor of Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and the Zapatista (EZLN) movement in Mexico.

De la Rocha and Rage Against The Machine hosted a benefit show in January 1999 alongside the Beastie Boys to raise attention towards Abu-Jamal's case.

[43] There, many of the same artists and activists who had participated in the struggle over the Peace and Justice Center maintained their commitment to providing youth a space for cultural expression and training.

The Centro lasted only two years; within that timespan it was viewed by its members and staff as an important space in the ongoing institutionalization of the community politics, cultural practices, and social networks of the Eastside scene in the nineties.

The EZLN and de la Rocha's experiences with them inspired the songs "People of the Sun", "Wind Below" and "Without a Face" from Evil Empire,[44] and "War Within a Breath" from The Battle of Los Angeles.

[citation needed] On April 14, 2007, Morello and de la Rocha reunited on-stage early to perform a brief acoustic set at House of Blues in Chicago at the rally for fair food with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW).

"[47] In November 2023, de la Rocha attended a pro-Palestinian protest in Washington, D.C. and signed an open letter calling for a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas war.