Chris Cornell

At 52 years old, Chris Cornell has this physical status:

Christopher John Cornell (né Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, as well as for his numerous solo and soundtrack contributions.

Cornell was also the creator and frontman of Temple of the Dog, the one-off tribute band dedicated to Andrew Wood, his late friend. Cornell is regarded as one of the 1990s grunge movement's greatest songwriters, his nearly four-octave vocal range, and his natural vocal belting technique.

Euphoria Morning (1999), Carry On (2004), Scream (2009), Higher Truth (2015), the live album Songbook (2011), and two compilations, The Roads We Choose (2007) and Chris Cornell (2018), were released posthumously.

Cornell received a Golden Globe Award nomination for his song "The Keeper," which appeared in the 2011 film Machine Gun Preacher's film Machine Gun Preacher, and co-wrote and performed the theme song to the James Bond film "You Know My Name" (2006).

"The Promise," the charity single written for the ending credits for the 2016 film of the same name, was his last solo release before his death. Cornell has sold 14.8 million albums, 8.8 million digital songs, and 300 million on-demand audio streams in the United States alone, as well as over 30 million worldwide, as well as over 30 million songs.

He was nominated for 16 Grammy Awards and three of them have been selected.

Cornell was named "Rock's Greatest Singer" by readers of Guitar World, ranked 4th on the list of "All-Time Top 100 Vocalists" by Rolling Stone, 9th in the list of "Best Lead Singers of All Time" by Rolling Stone, and 12th in MTV's "22 Greatest Voices in Music."

He was discovered dead in his Detroit hotel room early on May 18, 2017, just an hour earlier at the Fox Theatre.

He died by hanging.

Early life

Cornell was born Christopher John Boyle in Seattle, Washington, where he was raised. Edward F. Boyle, an Irish Catholic pharmacist, and Karen Boyle (née Cornell), an accountant with Jewish roots and self-proclaimed psychic, are his parents. He and his siblings adopted Cornell, their mother's maiden name, after his parents' divorce as a child. Cornell was one of six children; he had two older brothers and three younger sisters. He attended Christ the King, a Catholic elementary school, where he performed for the first time in front of a crowd, singing the 1960s anti-war song "One Tin Soldier." He attended Shorewood High School later in life. His mother and his sister were kicked out of Catholic school when he was in seventh grade; Cornell said they were going to be barred from attending a Catholic academy because they were too curious. In a 1994 interview, he recalled the incident: "With a faith like that, it's not meant for anyone to question." You'll start finding contradictions in organized faith as a youth with a natural curiosity and half a brain. We're both pretty sure in classroom situations that we didn't get it. 'Explain this to me.' And they couldn't, so we started creating a lot of problems."

Cornell traces his musical roots back to Little Richard, who appeared on The Beatles. After discovering a large number of Beatles albums abandoned in a neighbor's basement, he spent a two-year period between the ages of nine and eleven years actively listening to The Beatles. He described himself as a loner at this time, and he was able to cope with his fear of others by rock music. He devolved into severe depression, dropped out of school, and almost never left the house during his teenage years. He had access to alcohol and weed at the age of 12, but he relapsed at the age of 13, but not for another year before returning to music at age 15. He had a bad PCP experience at 14 and later developed panic disorder and agoraphobia.

Cornell began piano and guitar lessons as an infant. He once told his mother that he saved his life by buying him a snare drum, the instrument he used to begin his journey to become a rock musician. He started as a busboy as a dishwasher, as a fish monger at a seafood wholesaler, and as a sous-chef at Ray's Boathouse in Seattle.

Cornell was a member of The Shemps, a cover band that featured bassist Hiro Yamamoto and appeared around Seattle in the early 1980s. The band recruited guitarist Kim Thayil after Yamamoto left The Shemps. Cornell and Yamamoto stayed in touch, and after the Shemps broke up, the pair began jamming together, with Thayil eventually joining them.

Personal life

Cornell began dating Susan Silver, Alice's boss, in 1985, and Screaming Trees. They had a daughter, Lillian Jean, who was born on June 28, 2000. In 2004, Cornell and Silver divorced. He married Vicky Karayiannis, a Greek-born American publicist of Greek origins, in 2004. Toni and Hugh was born in September 2004 and Christopher Nicholas was born in December 2005. The Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation, which is based in 2012, was established to support the homeless, hungry, and abandoned or neglected children. In 2013, a part of the proceeds from ticket sales went to support the cause.

"I don't follow any particular one," Cornell said in a television interview in 2008. Ultimately, I think I'm just a freethinker and a bit open. So many bad things, as well as positive ones, have occurred as a result of people just sort of blindly following religion, which makes me believe I don't want to stay away from any particular denomination or any religious period."

Cornell was a close friend of late singer Andrew Wood, who was his roommate in Seattle. They recorded the song "Island of Summer," which was Cornell's only existing record of the two of them performing together, while living together. The song appeared on Melodies & Dreams, Andrew Wood's solo album of unreleased songs from his time on earth. Wood's sudden death in 1990 inspired Cornell to release a tribute album for him with the band Temple of the Dog. Cornell talked to The Guardian in 2016 about Wood's death: "I've always had a rough time with loss." Andy's death wasn't something I was familiar with. I'd be driving and I'd be looking out the window and I'd know he was dead, and I'd say I did see him. It will take me five minutes to get to the point and find out, 'no, he's dead.' In a sense, this tour is the dealing. It's facing the facts."

When asked if it is legal to read a songwriter's suicide into his songs after the fact, Cornell said it is true.

Eddie Vedder, a frontman of Pearl Jam, was a good friend of Cornell. Cornell was one of the first people Vedder met outside of his Pearl Jam bandmates after heading to Seattle in 1990. For a time, the two were neighbors and had shared vocal duties in Temple of The Dog. Susan Silver of Soundgarden recalled in the 2009 book Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music Cornell walked Vedder onstage at Cornell's second show at the Moore Theatre in 1990 (then named Mookie Blaylock) in Seattle: "Alice in Chains filmed the performance in 1990, which was the first performance that the band [Mookie Blaylock] opened for them. People were still mourning Andy [Andrew Wood]'s death, and they hadn't even played out yet. Eddie was led onto the stage by Chris, who was on his shoulders as he stepped on his shoulders. It was one of those rare days in history, where everyone was in need of a major healing. He came out as this guy with all the reputation in the world - in terms of Seattle residents - and Mother Love Bone and Malfunkshun were two of the most famous bands. Andy was such an endearing person. It was a difficult thing to do - to turn up after people died. And if Chris is helping Eddie out and pointing at him, "this is your guy now." Mike McCready, the Pearl Jam lead guitarist, spoke about their friendship; "Ed was from San Diego and he was very afraid in Seattle." Chris was sincerely embraced by him. Ed was super shy. Chris took him out for beers and told him stories. He was like, 'Hey, welcome to Seattle.' I adore Jeff [Ament] and Stone [Gossard]. I bless you all.' He was more relaxed from that point onwards. It was one of the coolest things I'd seen on Chris.

"I had no idea how it would influence my life and my beliefs on music and my views on friendship, and what a major influence he would have," Vedder said at a concert in the Alpine Valley in September 2011. These guys [the other members of Pearl Jam] know him a lot longer than I do, and his influence is strong." In 2011, Vedder's friendship with Cornell is also included in the 2011 film Pearl Jam Twenty.

Cornell struggled with depression and heroin use, which he was unable to cope with until 1997, when Soundgarden disbanded and his first marriage was failing. Cornell converted to OxyContin and other drugs at that time. "I went through a severe bout of depression when I didn't eat a whole meal every day," he said about that period. I was just sort of shutting down. I later discovered that the only way out of that was to change virtually every part of my life. It was a scary thing to do, but it was a good thing to do." Around 2005, he converted to a rehabilitation center and stopped smoking and smoking.

"I know what it feels like to be suicidal, and I know what it looks like to be hopeless." I learned enough about myself to know that I don't have the patience to create other hurdles as well." Cornell said the following about depression in 1999:

Cornell had access to alcohol, pipedine, and prescription drugs at the age of 12, but he relapsed at age 15 for another year before returning to music at age 12. Cornell admitted in a 2006 interview that he had a bad PCP experience and later suffered with anxiety and agoraphobia.

Cornell was named with the Stevie Ray Vaughan Award in May 2007 for "his service and support of the MusiCares MAP Fund and his service to assist other addicts in the recovery process." Alice Cooper gave the award.

Cornell described how he beat his heroin use, "It was a long time of coming to the realization that this (sober) is better." Recovering from depression and starting to avoid alcohol or smoking drugs or doing them properly, but the bottom line isn't really important because you will never get it or not do this crap anymore. There's nothing you can do if your best friend has a problem and it's serious, there's nothing you'll be able to do about it; it's sad for me and the people around me. It was sad for me that people of mine died as a result of the tragedy.

Cornell said that the biggest change when Soundgarden reformed was a lack of alcohol: "The biggest difference I found..." says the Cornell: "There are no bottles of Jack Daniel's around or beers." We've never discussed it; it's just not there."

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Recording career

Soundgarden was founded in 1984 by Cornell, Thayil, and Yamamoto, with Cornell first focusing on drums and vocals. The band enlisted Scott Sundquist as the drummer in 1985 in order to free Cornell from focusing on vocals. The band's first recordings were three songs that appeared on a C/Z Records compilation called Deep Six. Sundquist, who had a wife and a child at the time, decided to leave the band and spend time with his family in 1986. Matt Cameron, the drummer for Skin Yard, who became Soundgarden's permanent drummer, was fired.

Soundgarden joined Sub Pop in 1987 and 1988, releasing the Screaming Life EP and the Fopp EP (a mix of the two styles was released as Screaming Life/Fopp in 1990). Despite being courted by major labels, the band decided to start Ultramega OK in 1988, which earned them a Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance in 1990. The band later signed with A&M Records, becoming the first grunge band to register on a major label.

The band's second attempt and first album for a major label, Louder Than Love, was released in 1989. Yamamoto left the band to complete his master's degree in physical chemistry at Western Washington University following the album's success. Jason Everman, a former Nirvana guitarist, had him replaced. Following Soundgarden's tour of support for Louder Than Love, Everman was shot on Wednesday. Ben Shepherd, a new bassist, joined the band in 1990.

Soundgarden soon became one of Seattle's burgeoning grunge scene in the early 1990s, alongside Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam. In 1991, the new line-up, Shepherd, registered Badmotorfinger. The album brought the band to a new level of commercial success, and Soundgarden discovered itself within the band's burgeoning fame and attention in Seattle. "Jesus Christ Pose," "Outshined," and "Rusty Cage" were among Badmotorfinger's singles. The three singles gained significant airtime on alternative rock radio stations, while "Outshined" and "Rusty Cage"'s videos received a lot of airtime on MTV, while "Rusty Cage" and "Outshined" gained a lot of airtime on MTV. In 1991, the song "Jesus Christ Pose" and its music video were highly criticized, and MTV's playlist was taken down from MTV's playlist. Johnny Cash's 1996 album, Unchained, included "Rusty Cage" in the story. The single "Room a Thousand Years Wide" was released (along with the B-side "HIV Baby") as a 7" single in Sub Pop's Single of the Month club a full year before the album's debut of Badmotorfinger and later re-recorded for the album. Badmotorfinger introduced Soundgarden to its first mainstream success in 1992: it was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance and was later ranked No. 45 on the magazine's list of the 100 best guitar albums of all time, but not for the first time.

The band's fourth studio album, 1994's Superunknown, was the band's breakthrough record. Superunknown debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in March 1994. Several hits, including "Spoonman" and "Black Hole Sun," were released on the album, as well as international recognition for Soundgarden. Superunknown gained quintuple platinum status in the United States, triple platinum status in Canada, and gold status in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Superunknown four out of five stars were given by Rolling Stone. J.D., a reviewer. Superunknown, according to Considine, "has a much wider range than any band can do in a single lifetime." Considine sluggishly criticized "Black Hole Sun" and "Half," saying that the former is "not a good song," while the latter "is the virtual representation of a B-side." "Superunknown actually aims to broaden its audience by cracking heavy-metal genre barriers that Soundgarden could not comprehend," Jon Pareles of The New York Times said. "Soundgarden... wants [something] different from heavy metal," he said. "Soundgarden is pumped and primed on Superunknown," Entertainment Weekly's David Browne said, "Soundgarden is pumped and primed on Superunknown, and they produce the products." He praised it as a "hard rock landmark," a tid of volcanic fire, record-making wisdom, and '90s anomie and trepidation that sets a new record for anything called metal." In 1995, the album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. Two singles from Superunknown, "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman" received Grammy Awards, while "Spoonman"'s music video received a MTV Video Music Award and a Clio Award. On Rolling Stone magazine's list of the top albums of all time, Superunknown ranked number 336, while "Black Hole Sun" ranked number 25 on VH1's list of the 100 best songs of the 1990s.

Down on the Upside, a 1996 release, was the band's fifth album. Several singles were released from the album, including "Pretty Noose," "Burden in My Hand," and "Blow Up the Outside World." The album was considerably less heavy than the band's previous records, marking a step away from the band's grunge roots. Soundgarden said at the time that it wanted to try other sounds. "Few bands since Led Zeppelin have so clearly mixed instruments, both acoustic and electric," Entertainment Weekly's David Browne wrote.

However, tensions within the group arose during the sessions, with Thayil and Cornell reportedly arguing over Cornell's inability to move away from the band's trademark heavy guitar riffing. Despite positive reviews, the album did not sell well enough to rival Superunknown's.

Soundgarden received another Grammy award in 1997 for their lead song "Pretty Noose." Soundgarden announced disbandement on April 9, 1997, as internal tensions within the band increased, possibly due to internal strife over its creative direction. "It was clear from everybody's general attitude during the previous half-year that there was some dissatisfaction," Thayil said in a 1998 interview.

Knights of the Soundtable ride again!"

Soundgarden revealed in March 2010 that they would be headlining Lollapalooza 2010. Soundgarden revealed the news on their website and email list. Soundgarden held a mystery show at the Showbox Theater in downtown Seattle on April 16, 2010, which was announced on the band's mailing list. Nudedragons, an anagram for Soundgarden, were included in the show.

Cornell responded in August 2010 that if Soundgarden would record new music, "it would be exciting to record one song and see how Soundgarden-ish that is so long ago." For me, it's been more of a journey relearning the songs and playing them together. We've never been to a place where we're going to see live.

On November 9, 2010, Soundgarden made their first television appearance since being on TBS, Conan's second episode, and they toured North America in summer 2011. Soundgarden's "Live to Rise" song and video were released in summer 2012. King Animal, the band's sixth album, was released in November 2012 to mainly positive feedback.

Soundgarden's tour dates had continued to tour around the world, and guitarist Kim Thayil revealed in several interviews that the band would begin recording on material for their seventh album.

In an October 2018 interview with Seattle Times, the surviving members of Soundgarden discussed the possibility of replacing him, but Thayil confirmed that the band had once more broken. In an interview with Music Radar in July 2019, Thayil said that the remaining members of Soundgarden are attempting to finish and publish the album on which they had been working. The master files of Cornell's vocal recordings are now being withheld, but they are unable to complete the collection.

Cornell began working on songs for a solo album on which he collaborated with Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider of the band Eleven in 1998. The album, titled Euphoria Morning, was released on September 21, 1999. Cornell spent seven months on the road from September 13, 1999, to March 7, 2000, in support of Euphoria Morning. Cornell appeared in two of those coincident with the album's debut on September 21 and 22, 1999 at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood, California. Given that he appeared at the first shows before audiences were even aware of the music, attendance for the shows were high. The touring band was made up of Alain Johannes, Natasha Shneider, Rick Markmann, and Greg Upchurch, one of the contributing artists. Although the album's single "Can't Change Me" was nominated for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance at the 2000 Grammy Awards, it was commercially ineffective in the United States. Can't Change Me in French is Cornell's latest iteration of Can't Change Me, This version of Euphoria Morning's deluxe edition and on the Japanese and European editions. Cornell's tribute to his late friend Jeff Buckley is included on the album. Euphoria Morning's songwriting and distinctive vocal style have been influenced by Buckley's songwriting and distinctive vocal style, as shown in the above. The album was re-released on CD and vinyl in 2015, as well as retitled Euphoria Mourning, with Cornell's statement that he had intended the album to be named that, but that "Euphoria Morning" without the "u" would be a better name. "The title was so beautifully poetic to begin with, but it was just the idea of euphoria in mourning"; it was a moment I felt inspired and let all the air out of it." So I thought I was going to change the fuckin's name when we decided to do our first vinyl release! [Laughs] It's time to change it," Cornell said.

During this period, an unreleased song named "Heart of Honey" was also recorded in collaboration with Johannes and Shneider. "Heart of Honey" was recorded for the film Titan A.E., according to Alain Johannes. The card was also not used. On the internet, the song leaked. Cornell would often pay tribute to late Natasha Shneider and play "When I'm Down" (from Shneider's album Euphoria Morning), as well as a vinyl recording of the original piano track that Shneider performed for the song.

Though not officially released on CD, Cornell's hour-long acoustic concert at O-Baren in Stockholm on September 7, 2006, is widely distributed online under the title Chris Cornell: Unplugged in Sweden. Carry On, his solo album, The Roads We Choose – A Retrospective, was published in March 2007. Songs from Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave, and Cornell's solo collection were included on the 17-song CD.

Cornell's second solo album, Carry On, was released on June 5, 2007. Steve Lillywhite produced Carry On. It debuted at number 17 on the American Billboard charts, ranking it at number 17. Gary Lucas, who played acoustic guitar on several of the songs, was one of the performers on his second solo debut. Cornell said he was always writing, but that there were some songs he was unable to put on an Audioslave album. Cornell was involved in a motorcycle accident while recording his second solo album. When riding his motorcycle in Studio City, Los Angeles, he was apparently "rear-ended" by a car and "catapulted 20 feet into the air." He was able to recover from the accident, but he had serious cuts and bruises. Later that day, he returned to the studio.

Cornell opened as support to Aerosmith on at least two legs of their 2007 world tour—Dublin, London, and Hyde Park—and then to Linkin Park in Australia and New Zealand. These shows were part of his own continuing world tour, which began in April 2007 and continued into 2008 and 2009. Cornell referred to his touring band—comprising guitarists Yogi Lonich and Peter Thorn, bassist Corey McCormick, and drummer Jason Sutter—as "musicians that could get the whole picture" playing music by Soundgarden and Audioslave, as well as his solo work.

Cornell was on the Main Stage of Linkin Park's Project Revolution tour in 2008. Throughout the tour, Cornell worked with Linkin Park's Chester Bennington on "Hunger Strike" and with Street Drum Corps for a number of his Soundgarden tracks. Though Linkin Park's Grammy Award-winning song "Crawling" will perform, Aaron Lewis will appear on stage for the second verse of the song, outro, and harmonies.

Cornell co-produced Timbaland's Scream studio album, which was released on March 10, 2009. Timbaland has described the recording sessions as "the best work I've ever done" and has predicted that Cornell will be the club's "first rock star." Cornell referred to the new album as "a highlight of my career." Critics generally dismissed the album, but Cornell's solo career's most popular album reached No. 1, although the highest-charting album of the year was largely ignored. On the Billboard 200, ten of the top ten.

Cornell won Project 961, WKLS, on April 2, 2009. The station became "Chris-FM" for 24 hours, with a two-hour special of Cornell DJing and playing his favorite songs of his career, as well as the stories behind them leading up to a rebroadcast of his solo performance from the previous night. On Conan O'Brien's "Imagine" on The Tonight Show on September 11, 2009, Cornell performed John Lennon's "Imagine" on John Lennon's "Imagine."

Cornell announced his solo acoustic tour in Los Angeles in January 2011, the first in a series of celebrated solo acoustic performances in Los Angeles between 2009 and 2010. The first leg of the sold-out tour began on April 1, 2011, and continued through the United States and Canada until May 6, with resuming in October and visiting New Zealand, Australia, South America, and the United States again until December 17. The tour has received generally favorable feedback.

Cornell's "Songbook" tour in North America in November 2011, Cornell released Songbook, an acoustic live album starring songs from Cornell's "Songbook" tour in North America. It was his first live album as a solo performer, as well as with Soundgarden, Audioslave, and Temple of the Dog, as well as Led Zeppelin's "Thank You" and John Lennon's "Imagine." The album received mainly critical feedback, with AllMusic naming it Cornell's "best solo offering to date" on the site. During 2012 and 2013, Cornell's "Songbook" tour in Europe and the United States helped him rise to prominence.

On January 21, 2013, Cornell's Ball in the White House, which honors Medal of Honor recipients and Wounded Warriors, featured a 10-minute acoustic set. He performed with Soundgarden later in the evening to appear at Inaugural Ball, which included a three-song set at the function.

Cornell revealed on his Twitter page in January 2015 that he was in the studio recording a new solo album. On September 18, 2015, Cornell's last studio album, Higher Truth, was released. The last solo release before his death was the charity single "The Promise," which was written for the ending credits for the Armenian genocide. Cornell pledged all funds from the song to assist refugees and homeless people prior to his death.

Cornell's first posthumous song was released on February 26, 2018. Johnny Cash's "You Never Know My Mind" and "I Never Knew Your Mind" were written by him and included lyrics. The song, "You Never Knew My Mind," is included on Cash's album Johnny Cash: Forever Words, a collection of songs crafted from Cash's forgotten poetry, lyrics, and letters as interpreted by several artists.

Cornell received a posthumous Grammy award in the Best Rock Performance category at the 61st Grammy Awards in 2019, for his single "When Bad Does Good."

Since Zack de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine, the remaining members were looking for a new vocalist. Rick Rubin, a producer and friend, suggested that they contact Cornell. Rubin performed "Slaves & Bulldozers" for the remaining Rage Against the Machine band members to display his talent. Cornell was involved in the writing of a second solo album but he had to cancel it and pursue the opportunity to collaborate with Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk when they first met him. "He stepped to the microphone and performed the song, and I couldn't believe it," Morello said of Cornell. It didn't just look good. It didn't look good. It sounded transcendent. And, you can't deny it because there is an irreplaceable chemistry from the first moment. During 19 days of rehearsal and started working in the studio in late May 2001, the quartet recorded 21 songs.

Audioslave, their debut album, released in November 2002, has released hits like "Cochise," "Like a Stone" and "How Me How to Live," as well as "Show Me How to Live." The band was almost dead before the album's release; Cornell was suffering with alcohol abuses; and a slot on the Ozzfest tour was cancelled. During this period, there was a suspicion that Cornell had checked himself into drug therapy. In an interview with Metal Hammer that was carried out from a clinic payphone, he later confirmed it. Cornell referred to "a horrific personal crisis" during the first year of the first record's establishment, staying in hospital for two months and estranged from his wife, according to a San Diego CityBeat article. The difficulties were figured out, and Cornell remained sober. The band appeared on stage through 2003 before deciding to release their second album in 2004.

Out of Exile, Audioslave's second album, was released in May 2005 and debuted at number one on the US charts. The album has since earned platinum status. "Out of Exile," "Be Yourself," "Your Time Has Come," and "Doesn't Remind Me" are among the album's tracks. Cornell confessed to writing his most personal songs on this album, being inspired by the positive changes in his life since 2002. He also characterized the album as more varied than the debut and less dependent on heavy guitar riffs. Audioslave was first described as a blend of Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden, but critics soon discovered that they had a separate identity on the band's second album, Out of Exile. Cornell's more popular than Audioslave's debut; observers lauded the album's better vocals, likely as a result of quitting smoking and drinking, and pointed out that Out of Exile is "the sound of a band coming into its own." "Lean, hard, durable, and memorable," AllMusic's reviewer said of the album.

Audioslave performed a free show in Havana, Cuba, on May 6, 2005. Audioslave became the first American rock band to perform a concert in Cuba, in front of a 70,000 audience. On May 4, the band travelled to Havana to visit Cuban musicians. "I hope that this performance will help to open the musical boundaries between our two countries," Cornell said. The set concert, which lasted 26 songs, was the longest the band had ever played.

The band's third album was released in early 2006 as they had written the bulk of the text during the tour. In September 2006, the band titled Revelations released its album. Revelations were influenced by 1960s and 1970s funk and R&B music. "Original Fire" and "Revelations" were two of the first two singles. Before the album's release, two of the songs from Michael Mann's 2006 film, "Shape of Things to Come" and "Wide Awake," were also included in "Wide Awake." Despite the fact that Audioslave did not tour behind the unveiling of their third album and the positive critical buzz for their third album. They went into hiatus to encourage Cornell to finish "You Know My Name," the 2006 James Bond film's theme song, Casino Royale, and Morello to pursue his own solo project under the moniker of the Nightwatchman.

Cornell wrote all of Audioslave's songs, although none of the four members were credited with writing the songs. Wilk's songwriting process was described as "more collaborative" and "satisfying" than Rage Against the Machine's, which was "a contest creatively." Soundgarden's songwriting style was inferior to Audioslave's, according to Cornell. Cornell's lyrics were mostly apolitical; Morello of Audioslave referred to them as "unique, existential poetry." They were often depicted by his cryptic approach, which often dealt with themes of existentialism, passion, hedonism, spirituality, and Christianity. A defining factor in the writing and recording process was Cornell's struggle with prescription drugs and alcoholism. Despite admitting that he was "never able to write well" while binge drinking and attending rehab after releasing his debut album, Morello said that Revelations was "the first record [Cornell] did not smoke, drink, or take drugs through the recording." However, Morello wrote, "Chris was stone sober during the recording of our Out of Exile album." Chris was still sober when he first received Revelations, and before recording, he gave up smoking as well. I'm sorry if the initial story caused any confusion or anxiety. Sobriety can be a matter of life or death, and Chris' struggle with his health for years has inspired."

When insiders revealed that after Cornell's third album he would leave to pursue a solo career, there was news about him in July 2006. "We hear rumors that Audioslave is breaking up all the time," the singer responded immediately. [...] I always ignore [them]." Cornell officially announced his resignation from Audioslave on February 15, 2007, saying, "Due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical inconsistency, I am permanently leaving the band Audioslave." "I wish the other three members nothing but the best in all of their future endeavors." The Rage Against the Machine reunion was jammed with de la Rocha's return, de la Rocha's return, and Morello and Cornell had each released solo albums in 2007.

It was announced on January 17, 2017, that Audioslave would return to the Prophets of Rage for their first show in ten years at the Prophets of Rage's Anti-Inaugural Ball, protesting President Donald Trump's inauguration as President of the United States. On January 20, 2017, the festival took place.

Frontman Cornell replied in February 2017 that if there will be more Audioslave reunion shows in the future, there is always a possibility." We've been discussing it for at least three or four years, I mean. We were talking about actually selecting dates, but it turned out that it wasn't working out because everyone was so occupied. They have formed another band again, they all have separate bands that they do for themselves, I have Soundgarden and a solo career that is taking up a lot of time, and Temple of the Dog was just completed. So, it's really as simple as we end up with a window of time where it's convenient for everyone and we want to do it, because I'm sure everyone's up for it."

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