Tom Morello recently shared the story of his very unique first meeting with Chris Cornell.
The guitarist recalled the story in the new issue of Metal Hammer as part of a fan Q&A where he was asked what his favorite memory of his late Audioslave bandmate.
Morello began, “When Rage broke up, Brad [Wilk], Tim [Commerford] and I still wanted to play together, and we kept listening to [Soundgarden’s] ‘Badmotorfinger.’ Chris had an amazing voice, but he had a dark, Edgar Allan Poe poetry to him, we wondered what he was really like, so we decided to go talk to him. Rick Rubin [who co-produced Audioslave’s 2002 self-titled debut album] came with us and he doesn’t leave the house for anything, unless it’s in a Rolls Royce inside another Rolls Royce, but he’s in my van.”
Morello continued, “Chris lived in LA at the top of the last and loneliest mountain, it was dusk and the sunlight was going and this mansion he lived in was creepy as hell, the gates just opened like Addams Family style, and we drove in and there is Chris, 6’2 and a half, lanky of frame, dark of countenance, and he starts slowly walking towards us and Rick freaked out and goes, ‘Let’s get the f— out of here!'”
He concluded, ” We stayed, he was the most loving and generous guy and we were in a band for six years together. That’s my first memory of him.”
Audioslave’s Self-Titled Debut & 19 Other Albums That Turn 20 in 2022