Zack de la Rocha reportedly tore his Achilles heel early on in Rage Against The Machine‘s now-cancelled ‘Public Service Announcement’ tour, a friend of the band has said.

During the second show of the North American leg – which they performed in Chicago on July 11 – de la Rocha was seen to injure his leg onstage, leaving for a short time before continuing the performance seated. “I don’t know what happened to my leg right now,” the singer told the audience. “We’re gonna keep this fucking shit going. I can crawl across this stage. We’re gonna play for you all tonight.”

In an Instagram post on Saturday (August 13), photographer Glen E. Friedman revealed de la Rocha’s injury to be a torn Achilles heel. “I went to see my good friend Zack (with his torn Achilles) perform last night at Madison Square Garden [August 12],” he wrote. “Even having to sit during the performance Zack De La Rocha showed the world what they had been missing in all the years he had been away from this incredible group of musicians.

“Zack ‘brought it’ like few other ever have or ever could. Integrity, and heart, the touchstones of the most important and greatest.”

On August 11, Rage Against The Machine announced they had been forced to cancel their 2022 UK and Europe ‘Public Service Announcement’ shows, due to “medical guidance” given to de la Rocha following his injury.