Rage Against the Machine Bassist Tim Commerford Calls Limp Bizkit “One of the Dumbest Bands in the History of Music”

Even if you weren’t an MTV watcher in 2000 (and I know I wasn’t), you probably recall at least hearing about an incident in which Rage Against the Machine bassist Tim Commerford temporarily shut down the show when he climbed a backdrop on stage during Limp Bizkit’s acceptance speech after Best Rock Video for their “Break Stuff” clip. Bizkit beat Rage Against the Machine, and I think we all always knew that was the motivation behind Commerford’s behavior (and I think a lot of us assumed he was really fucked-up, too).

http://youtu.be/_wkGZYjiNIU

Fifteen years later, Commerford is now out promoting his new project, Future User, and during an interview on sports radio station 104.3’s The Dan LeBatard Show, Commerford went into great detail about the reasons for his behavior. And, yeah, it is because he was pissed that RATM lost… but there’s a little more to it than that!

See, the video for which Rage lost was “Sleep Now in the Fire,” directed by future Oscar winner Michael Moore. It was shot in the financial district and protested by the police; consequently, it caused a major ruckus, all of which was captured on film and included in the video.

http://youtu.be/w211KOQ5BMI

The “Break Stuff” video for which Limp Bizkit won, meanwhile, contained no actual social significance and was directed by future Oscar never-nominee, Fred Durst.

And so Commerford, understandably cranky that Rage Against the Machine and Michael Moore lost to Limp Bizkit — who he calls “One of the dumbest bands in the history of music that nobody gives a shit about anymore” — decided to stage his little protest.

Hearing Commerford’s version of the story just makes the already-hilarious incident all the funnier. You can check out the interview below. Skip to 13:25 to hear him discuss “The Limp Bizkit Incident.”

Thanks: Kenny R.

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