Tom Morello turns 60 today — happy birthday, dude! Today, he’s been announced as the latest recipient of the Woody Guthrie Prize, an award started a decade ago to recognize “outstanding contributions to music and activism.” (Last year, the winner was Pussy Riot.)
“Woody Guthrie was a fearless agitator, a six-string instigator, a poetic truth teller and a harmonizing hell raiser,” Morello said in a statement. “He was the original punk rocker whose life, music, art and lyrics were beacons of justice and liberation for the downtrodden and oppressed. In my own work, Woody has been an inspiration to tell it like I see it without compromise or apology and to play my songs (and his songs) on the picket line and at the barricade whenever and wherever people are taking a stand.”
Morello will accept the award at a ceremony in Tulsa on September 25, which will include a conversation and a performance.
