Rise Against

Rise Against by CON. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Rise Against by CON. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Rise Against is an American hardcore punk band, formed in Chicago in 1999. The current line up consists of Tim McIlrath on lead vocals and rhythm guitar. Joe Principe on bass, Zach Blair on lead guitar and Brandon Barnes on drums. Currently, three-quarters of the band are vegan and one member is vegetarian.

Between 2001 and 2025, Rise Against released 10 studio albums. Their highest charting album was Appeal to Reason, released in 2008 and reaching number three in the Billboard 200. The 2025 album, Ricochet, reached number four in the UK Rock and Metal Albums chart.

Why the members of Rise Against are vegan

The members of Rise Against are vegan for the animals.

The band’s frontman, Tim McIlrath, became vegan in the mid-nineties when he picked up some animal rights leaflets at a concert. McIlrath’s lyrics address all kinds of social injustice from animal rights to human rights.

McIlrath got into animal rights at a young age from going to vegan straight-edge punk shows and reading leaflets there about vegetarianism and veganism. He realised that “there are things we just accept as truth, but there are things we should be questioning,” and farming animals was one of those things.1Baltin, S. 2021. Who I Am: Rise Against Frontman Tim McIlrath On Punk Rock, Chicago, ‘1984’ And More. Forbes. Available: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebaltin/2021/06/02/who-i-am-rise-against-frontman-tim-mcilrath-on-punk-rock-chicago-1984-and-more/ [Accessed 23 June 2026].

Joe Principe, the band’s bassist, came to veganism a little later, after being vegetarian for years. He said that he had always felt guilty knowing the horrors of the dairy industry whilst supporting it financially so eventually he was able to commit to veganism. Since going from vegetarian to vegan, Principe has felt healthier, particularly regarding sinus issues, and has more energy in general.2Ritchie, R. 2018. Rise Against Adds Veganism to Its Politically Charged Music. VegNews. Available: https://vegnews.com/rise-against-adds-veganism-to-its-politically-charged-music [Accessed 23 June 2026].

“I was a meat-eater and never had any intention of giving that up. But after seeing videos like Meat is Murder and reading more and more about how the inhumane treatment of animals as well as how low-quality and disgusting our meat and dairy products really are, I just couldn’t actually physically stomach it any longer.” – Tim McIlrath3Cooper, R. 2006. An Interview With Tim McIlrath of Rise Against – June, 2006. Available: https://web.archive.org/web/20120212205821/http://punkmusic.about.com/od/interviews/a/McIlrath.htm [Accessed 23 June 2026].

References

  1. Baltin, S. 2021. Who I Am: Rise Against Frontman Tim McIlrath On Punk Rock, Chicago, ‘1984’ And More. Forbes. Available: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebaltin/2021/06/02/who-i-am-rise-against-frontman-tim-mcilrath-on-punk-rock-chicago-1984-and-more/ [Accessed 23 June 2026].
  2. Ritchie, R. 2018. Rise Against Adds Veganism to Its Politically Charged Music. VegNews. Available: https://vegnews.com/rise-against-adds-veganism-to-its-politically-charged-music [Accessed 23 June 2026].
  3. Cooper, R. 2006. An Interview With Tim McIlrath of Rise Against – June, 2006. Available: https://web.archive.org/web/20120212205821/http://punkmusic.about.com/od/interviews/a/McIlrath.htm [Accessed 23 June 2026].

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