The band was considered a "supergroup" since they were made up of members of the bands Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine. Cornell was lead singer of Soundgarden. The members of Rage came together with Cornell after Rage was looking for a new lead singer, and famous producer Rick Rubin suggested they jam with Chris Cornell, and "see what happens."
One thing Chris Cornell made very clear upon forming the band was that he did not want it to be a political band, like the rest of the band's previous group, Rage Against the Machine. Though vowing not to be a political band, they have made political statements at times. The music video for their 2004 song "Doesn't Remind Me" contained a strong anti-war message, and 2006's "Wide Awake" was written about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The band originally went by Civilian until they discovered another band already owned the name. Cornell came up with Audioslave only to get wrapped up in other name dispute. Unknowingly, Audioslave was being used by a less-successful British band at the same time. The British band had the name first, but decided to change their name to The Most Terrifying Thing to avoid confusion.
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