Tom Morello Comments On Chris Cornell’s Death

It’s been over three months now since the world tragically lost Chris Cornell, and it still doesn’t completely feel real. The grunge icon and pioneer tragically committed suicide while on tour back in May, and sent shockwaves and pangs of grief to fans and artists alike.  One of Cornell’s closest collaborators and friends, Tom Morello of Audioslave and Rage Against the Machine, sat down with Detroit radio station WRIF and briefly spoke with them about Cornell.

Unsurprisingly, the death still deeply affects Morello every day. “I don’t think I’ll ever recover from his passing, but we have so many great memories,” Morello said about Cornell. “And I was just really glad that I was able to..We played an Audioslave show—the first one in 12 years—in January, so to be able to reconnect with him, both as friends and as musical collaborators, that’s something I’m so glad we were able to do.”

But as most rock fans now, that wasn’t the only icon we lost. Chester Bennington, frontman of Linkin Park, also recently committed suicide. Morello also touched on his death, saying “it’s insane…It’s a horrible loss for the world of music, but also a horrible lose, ‘cause they were two…I didn’t know Chester as well, but [they were] two really good people. And both seemed very inexplicable, their passing.”

Morello also expanded to the issue of depression at large, and how if there is any silver lining, it might be that people are finally taking mental health seriously. “I’m not someone who suffers from depression, so I don’t understand it, but you’ve really gotta…For all you listeners out there, if you do know someone who has addiction issues or depression issues, that’s a real thing, and to always make sure they know that you’re there for ‘em,” Morello said. “We’ve gotta look after each other,” he regretfully remarked.

Morello shared a thoughtful poem penned to Cornell back in May, and you can read it here. Cornell’s daughter recently joined OneRepublic to sing “Hallelujah” in dedication to her father and Bennington.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat