Tom Morello has cancelled a slew of European tour dates so he can fly home to care for his ailing mother.
The Rage Against The Machine star had been due to play a number of shows on his UK and European solo tour this week, but he’s now scrapped appearances at the Tons Of Rock Festival in Oslo, Norway on Friday (26.06.26) and the BBK Music Legends Festival in Bilbao, Spain on Saturday (27.06.26) as well as shows in London and Paris.
Ton revealed he will be flying home to be with his mother Mary, 102, after she was admitted to hospital. In a post on Instagram, he wrote: “Dear friends, fans and comrades, my dear mom, Mary Morello is back in the hospital and I’m headed home to help look after her.
“Rocking the UK and Europe with you all this summer has been incredible and I can’t wait to be back with you and continue this movement that we started. With much love, unity and power.”
Tom previously postponed his shows at London’s Electric Brixton and the Bataclan in Paris because of his mother’s ill health.
He had hoped to rearrange the gigs for June 29 and 30, but they have now been cancelled and fans are being offered refunds on their tickets.
In a previous post online, he explained: “I am sorry I had to miss a few shows due to my mom’s health.
“The incredibly resilient, indefatigable Mary Morello at 102 is now feeling somewhat better and has ordered me back into the fray, charging me with rocking you and fighting fascism six strings at a time.”
The cancelled shows came shortly after Tom played at the UK’s Download Festival earlier this month when he hit headlines for taking at at far-right activist Tommy Robinson by scrawling the words ” “F*** TOMMY ROBINSON” on the back of his guitar.
Tom later defended his actions insisting music should be political, telling Metal Hamme: “When people say that musicians should not be involved in politics, it means they are people that disagree with your politics.
“The second that you write a song that agrees with their politics, all of a sudden they’re all for it. So one, it’s very hypocritical, but two, I also think that, why should you give away your free speech rights in the job that you do? Because it offends someone?
“I think that the converse is what is actually true, I think you do yourself and your times a disservice by censoring who you are in your world, not just musicians but in your work as a music journalist or in your work as a tour manager or a bus driver, you should not leave behind who you are and what you believe.”