Rage Against The Machine re-enter US charts in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests

The band's self-titled debut album is seeing a surge in popularity

Rage Against The Machine have re-entered the US charts following worldwide protests for racial equality in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

The band’s 1992 self-titled album has appeared at number 174 in the Billboard 200. It has also reached number eight in the iTunes album chart.

The album’s Billboard chart peak came in 1994, when it reached number 45. In the UK its highest chart position was at number 17.

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Rage Against The Machine’s debut LP contains their best-known single ‘Killing In The Name Of’, which attacks white supremacy and institutional racism in the police and has taken on increased relevance in the wake of Floyd’s death.

George Floyd, an African-American man, was killed last month when a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes as he lay on the ground during an arrest. Mass protests calling out racism have since taken place across the US and all over the world.

Earlier this month Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker shared a joint cover of the track in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Both of the musicians also took part in marches in Los Angeles.

“They wrote this song in 1992. It’s been 28 years since, and every word still applies,” Machine Gun Kelly wrote on Twitter.

In the cover’s accompanying video, black and white footage of the musicians protesting on the LA streets is interspersed with clips of them tracking the song in the studio. In one scene, MGK holds a sign reading: “Stop arresting protestors! Arrest killer cops!!”

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The song has seen a surprise re-entrance into the charts before. In 2009 it hit Christmas number one following a campaign to prevent The X Factor winner’s song from topping the charts for the fifth year in a row.

Last week the band’s Tom Morello looked back at their subsequent victory performance the band gave in Finsbury Park the following year.

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