Although Boston Calling had to cancel the 2020 and 2021 editions of the festival, the event’s 2022 return will still feature Foo Fighters and Rage Against the Machine as headliners. Both bands had originally been announced for Boston Calling’s 2020 lineup, along with Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Boston Calling’s website promises that there will be another headliner announced along with the rest of the festival’s lineup. It’s possible that it could still be Red Hot Chili Peppers. Tickets are also available through their site, starting at $299.99 for 3-day GA passes. Those who rolled-over the tickets they had purchased for the 2021 festival were given a credit of up to $75 to use during the festival. However, they were allowed to request a refund instead if they preferred that.

The two headliners have had a couple of other things in common over the past year. In November 2020, Rage Against the Machine’s iconic guitarist Tom Morello and Foo Fighters’ keyboardist Rami Jaffee both contributed to a cover of Eurythmics’ 1983 super-hit “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” along with Kathy Valentine of the Go Go’s, Cherie Currie formerly of The Runaways, Vicki Peterson of the Bangles, Wayne Kramer of MC5, Kris Myers of Umphrey’s McGee and both members of The Bird And The Bee. The other thing is that both Rage Against the Machine and Foo Fighters were among the 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees, although only Foo Fighters made it in out of the two. 

Archival footage also leaked out of Rage Against the Machine’s vocalist Zack de la Rocha joining Dave Grohl’s pre-Nirvana punk band Scream on stage during a 1994 concert. Zach de la Rocha has been spending a lot of time with Run the Jewels lately, since at least 2017. Run the Jewels’ El-P even said that he sees the singer as a third member of the rap group, adding “I wouldn’t be surprised if we fucked around and dropped a Run de la Rocha record.”

Morello has historically been even more keen on collaboration. This year alone, he’s worked with Serj Tankian of System of a Down on a cover of Gang of Four’s “Natural’s Not In It,” with The Pretty Reckless on a new single called “And So It Went” and with Pussy Riot on a new song called “Weather Strike.”

Rage Against the Machine moved their reunion tour dates to Spring-Summer 2022, with support from Run the Jewels. The tour had originally been announced for Spring 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 lockdown beginning around the same time they had intended to head off. The popular rap-metal band had announced that they would reunite for that tour in late 2019. They were booked for a ton of major festivals before quarantine began, including Coachella, Firefly Festival, Lollapalooza Berlin, Ottawa Bluesfest and Quebec City Summer Fest.

Foo Fighters had a lot of things going on before their induction. They shared their latest album, Medicine at Midnight, in February this year. They covered Andy Gibbs’ “Shadow Dancing” at Rock ‘N’ Relief in March. They released a documentary about bands hopping in a van and going out on tour early in their careers, called What Drives Us, in April. As for other future plans, they’ve been announced for some major festivals later in 2021, including Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo and BottleRock.

Photo credit: Marv Watson