Tom Morello Recalls Layne Staley Seeing Rage Against The Machine Naked

One of the most legendary moments in Lollapalooza history was in 1993, when Rage Against the Machine staged a 15-minute-long naked protest instead of playing their scheduled set.

Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk all took the stage, completely nude, with the letters PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) written on their torsos and black electrical tape covering their mouths to protest the festival's censorship. Guitar feedback was the only sound that came from the stage. Unfortunately, that was also the first time Alice in Chains' Layne Staley, whose band was also playing the festival, had the chance to see RATM play. During a recent interview with SPIN, Morello recalled the slightly awkward experience.

“We decided that we wanted to take a stand against the PMRC. What could we do to make a point about censorship? So our idea is this: we’re going to appear onstage butt-ass naked with the letters P-M-R-C written on our chests, duct tape over our mouths, guitars feeding back. And we’re gonna play no songs. That’s the show,” he explained about the protest.

“Layne’s sitting on the side of the stage,” Morello continued. “And he’s like, ‘Hey man, I hear you guys are great, I can’t wait to see you.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, you’re gonna see us, alright.’”

The crowd was not happy that RATM didn't play any songs, but Morello never revealed Staley's reaction.