Rage Against The Machine bassist Tim Commerford is promoting his new band, Wakrat and he figured out the perfect way to get some good publicity. Talk shit on Limp Bizkit.
It's no secret that Limp Bizkit were hugely influenced by Rage Against the Machine. Limp has been actively covering Rage's "Killing In The Name Of" for years, with Durst saying the band is one of his biggest influences. Here's a video of the band performing the track in 2013:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFAxfPuPxsk[/youtube]
According to recently asked, at a recent NYC show during their performance of the cover, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst said "When I first heard this song, that shit hit me right the fuck here," pointing to his heart. "And this next part" — RATM singer Zach de la Rocha's repeated screams of "Fuck you!/I won't do what you tell me!" — "changed my life."
Obviously, this does not sit well with Rage bassist Tim Commerford. Commerford famously rushed the stage at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards after Rage lost out for video of the year to Limp Bizkit, an action which was the catalyst for Rage frontman Zack De La Rocha to quit the band.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/0UaGVNx0vG0[/youtube]
Rolling Stone recently asked Commerford about his feelings on influencing Limp Bizkit and he couldn't be sorrier:
"I do apologize for Limp Bizkit," Commerford says. "I really do. I feel really bad that we inspired such bullshit. "They're gone, though. That's the beautiful thing. There's only one left, and that's Rage, and as far as I'm concerned, we're the only one that matters."
Sadly, Limp Bizkit are not gone, and actually are much more active as a group than Rage is these days. I think he's implying they're not exactly pushing the needle anymore. Commerford was also asked if he had any regrets about the VMAs incident, and he only had one:
"I wish I would've swung on that thing and brought it to the ground and just destroyed it," he says. "If I could do it all over again, I would've ripped that thing to the ground and shredded it."
What a swell guy!
Update: One of our writers thinks this is a dick move. He explains why.