Sad news broke over the weekend, as Mary Morello, a former schoolteacher and lifelong activist, passed away on Sunday, July 12th, at the age of 102. Mary, the mother of guitar god Tom Morello, was a lifelong proponent of civil rights and imbued that same spirit into all whose lives she touched.
Tom made the announcement on Sunday, posting to his socials along with a portrait of his mother:
"Mary Morello is forever with the Rebels of Light & Song. (1923-2026)"
On June 25th, Tom had posted that he had to cancel some of his dates due to his mother's health issues, having posted:
“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 & Europe with you all this summer has been incredible and I cant wait to be back with you and continue this movement that we started. With much love, unity and power “
- Tom Morello
Tom will not be appearing on Tons of Rock Festival or BBK Music Legends Festival. Refunds for the headline London and Paris shows will be available at point of purchase.
Mary Morello co-founded the organization Parents For Rock And Rap, an anti-censorship group that looked to bolster freedom of expression in music the world over. She was a career-long history teacher at Libertyville High School in Libertyville, IL, where she, as Tom put it in a Mother's Day tribute to her earlier this year:
"... Pushed us beyond our limits and made sure we saw far beyond the borders of our little white suburban Chicago town and learned to care and advocate for people less fortunate, people oppressed by race and color lines from the inner city of Chicago and Cabrini Green to the fields in California and some guy named Cesar Chavez, and helped us see why Native Americans were taking over Alcatraz...but she also brought humor and acceptance into class every day—she is in her 90’s today—and still advocating for others.”
The Nu Metal Agenda would like to offer our deepest condolences to Tom and the rest of the Morello family in light of this tremendous loss. Rest in power, Mary.
