Tom Morello donates guitars to LA high school to fund music education “under the Trump regime”

Tom Morello has donated guitars to high school in Los Angeles, to fight the cutbacks to music education “under the Trump regime”. 

The Rage Against the Machine frontman took to Instagram over the weekend to share the news of his donation with his followers, where he posted photos of his visit to the school and a video of some of the students performing, before one stage dives into the crowd.

Accompanying the post, Morello explained in the caption that he had been to the Manual Arts High School in LA, in partnership with the charity Music Will, which champions the cause of music education for young people, where he dropped off a selection of Gibson guitars.

The rocker noted that the work of the charity was part of “heroic efforts to nurture music programmes in schools that have faced savage cutbacks under the Trump regime.”

He added: “The kids really ROCKED, and it’s been a long time since I’ve had someone stage dive onto my head!,” referencing the video of the young performer who decided to leap into the watching crowd.

Morello’s latest philanthropic endeavour comes as his latest move in protest of the current US government, after he accused the administration of allegedly using a Nazi slogan at one of their press conferences in January. The Department of Homeland Security subsequently denied these claims.

However, in a musical realm, the frontman has also recently revealed that he is set to join Bruce Springsteen on his upcoming Land of Hope and Dreams tour of the US, which begins at the end of this month in Minneapolis. 

The pair have been longtime friends and collaborators over the years, with Morello having previously been an honorary member of the E Street Band and Springsteen also appearing on his 2021 album, The Atlas Underground Fire.

At the start of the year, The Boss made a surprise appearance at Morello’s Defend Minnesota fundraising concert in January, in aid of the ICE raids in the city and the killings of Alex Pretti and Renée Good. At the event, he premiered his latest protest song, ‘Streets of Minneapolis’, live for the first time. 

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