10 Legendary Musicians Who Fought Against The Music Business

You couldn't really script a band that was more anti mainstream than what Rage Against the Machine were doing. When some of your biggest songs focus on political corruption, police brutality, and how the common man needs to rebel against a system that is rigged against them, you're not really itching to get on the Tonight Show any time soon or anything. For a few short years though, it looked like the sounds of anarchy was actually going to come above ground.

Across every tour for their first three albums, Rage were not willing to get with the program, always trying to test the waters, whether that meant playing right next to the Republican National Convention in protest or playing SNL with upside down American flags hanging from their amplifiers, signaling a sign of distress during a moment of crisis. As much as businessmen were popping a monocle a minute at these guys, Rage was not going to roll over and compromise for a second, eventually leading to their own demise after getting into disagreements about how to spread their message.

Every time they have come back in the years since their breakup though, that rebel spirit has stayed with them, including playing on English broadcasting and playing an uncensored version of Killing in the Name after repeatedly being told to censor themselves. Rock and roll was always born out of the frustration, and that initial spark still rages on whenever Rage takes to the stage.