“My doctor said, ‘He might as well be in pain on crutches at the Led Zeppelin show.’” Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello on his love of Jimmy Page, and the childhood injury that nearly robbed him of seeing Zeppelin live

Rage Against The Machine shredder Tom Morello opens up on one of his favourite bands

Rage Against The Machine shredder Tom Morello might be a guitar icon in his own right, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his own axe-wielding heroes. Speaking exclusively to Metal Hammer, Morello – who is in the UK to play Download Festival this weekend – reveals that legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is one of his idols, and that he’s been able to hang out with Page on multiple occasions over the years.

In fact, a young Morello even got to see Zeppelin live in their heyday – but only just, as he had to suffer through an injury and beg a doctor to give his approval to make sure he could attend the band’s show in Chicago, not long before they split up.

“Led Zeppelin, one of my favourite bands of all time,” he gushes. “I had the good fortune of seeing them in 1977 at the Chicago Stadium. At the time my leg was in a cast and I had Led Zeppelin tickets. My mom said I couldn’t go, so we went to a neutral arbitrator, which was my doctor, and I said I pled my case. And my mom said, ‘He’s unsafe!’ And the doctor said, ‘Well he’s probably going to be in pain. He’s going to be on crutches. But he might as well be in pain on crutches at the Led Zeppelin show.’ So I got to see them in their last Chicago performance.