Songfacts®:

• Extreme lead singer Gary Cherone has had his share of haters over the years. The band took some heat when, after releasing an album of rockers as their 1989 debut, they put out Pornograffitti the next year and had huge hits with the album's acoustic ballads, "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted."
  
  But that was nothing compared to the wrath of Van Halen fans. Extreme split up in 1996 and Cherone became the lead singer of Van Halen. He made one album with the band (Van Halen III) and did one tour before that era ended in a hiatus in 1999 (they regrouped with Sammy Hagar in 2003). Van Halen fans, divided into Sammy and Dave factions, united in their vitriol for Cherone, which they were able to spread on the internet for the first time.
  
  Extreme made a comeback in 2007. Their early albums aged well and their new material was well received. In 2023 they released their album Six, with #Rebel as one of the singles. The song is Cherone's response to those who took him and his band to task without ever accomplishing anything themselves. "We're calling out those trolls who can't back up their words," he said.
• The hashtag at the front of the song title is for the swarm of critics on social media who think they have valuable opinions to share. Cherone calls them "hashtag rebels."
• Cherone and Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt wrote the song along with Jordan Ferreira, a songwriter who worked with them on a few other tracks from the Six album as well, including the lead single, "Rise." Cherone and Bettencourt, the main songwriters in the group, started bringing in outside writers from time to time after they re-formed in 2007.
• Nuno Bettencourt is one of those creative types with a range of talents. He's best known for his guitar chops (he delivers one of his signature solos on this track), but he's also a talented composer who plays piano and can do orchestral arrangements. Plus, he's good behind the lens - he co-directed the video for #Rebel.