Twenty years ago, on May 6, 2005, Audioslave achieved a historic milestone in their career. The group became the first American rock band to perform in Cuba.
The free concert took place on the esplanade of the José Martí Anti-Imperialist Tribune in Havana, Cuba, for an audience of 70,000 people. The setlist included 24 songs, among them the hits "Cochise," "I Am the Highway," "Show Me How to Live," and "Like a Stone," as well as covers of Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine.
The American government's barrier to the Audioslave concert.
The fact is that this performance marked the first time an American rock band was allowed to play in the country. The American group's performance was made possible through a collaboration between the United States government and the Cuban Institute of Music , since at that time, US citizens needed special permits to enter the Latin American country.
At the time, the American government was led by George W. Bush, and Cuba had already given an opening to authorize the show, but the main problem was money, according to an interview Chris Cornell gave to Folha de S.Paulo : “They objected to the issue of expenses for the show on the island, they wanted to know where the money would go. They objected to taking money from the US to Cuba [which is prohibited], to the fact that a video made in Cuba would be sold commercially… everything was a problem, we couldn't spend more than US$70 or something like that per day, an amount that was barely enough to eat, because they didn't want us leaving American money there.”
“Our trip to Cuba was about the music. We paid to play in a place that doesn’t have the chance to see a rock band like ours, basically because our country doesn’t let anyone go there. We managed to break through that barrier, and I think we were received not as people who agree with Cuban politics or as representatives of American politics, but as musicians who went there to showcase our songs,” says Cornell.
The event resulted in the DVD Live in Cuba, featuring the complete concert and a documentary with footage of the band touring Cuba. During the performance, Cornell said that it was Audioslave's longest show in their entire career.
Formed in the early 2000s, the supergroup Audioslave had a brief existence, consisting of vocalist Chris Cornell , formerly of Soundgarden, guitarist Tom Morello , bassist Tim Commerford , and drummer Brad Wilk , all former members of Rage Against the Machine.
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