formed Audioslave with Chris Cornell

After the breakup, Morello, Wilk, and Commerford decided to stay together and find a new vocalist. “There was talk for a while of us becoming Ozzy Osbourne ‘s backing band, and even Macy Gray ‘s,” said Morello. “We informed [ Epic Records ] that losing our singer was actually a blessing in disguise, and that we had bigger ambitions than being somebody’s hired musicians.” Their friend, the producer Rick Rubin , suggested they play with Chris Cornell of Soundgarden . Along with Cornell, they formed Audioslave . Their first single, ” Cochise “, was released in November 2002, and their self-titled debut album followed to mainly positive reviews. In contrast to Rage Against the Machine, most of Audioslave’s music was apolitical, although some songs touched on political issues. Their second album, Out of Exile debuted at the number one position on the Billboard charts in 2005. Audioslave released its third album Revelations on September 4, 2006, but did not tour as Cornell and Morello were working on solo albums. After months of inactivity and rumors of a breakup, Audioslave disbanded on February 15, 2007, after Cornell announced he was leaving the band “due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences”.