From his rap debut in the mid-aughts to his transition to country in 2024, Post Malone has exemplified and dabbled in multiple genres—and according to guitarist Tom Morello, he’d add “alternative rock” to the growing list of genres Post has mastered.
Of course, if anyone were to have an expert opinion on the subject, it would be Morello, who played guitar for Rage Against the Machine and the rock ‘n’ roll supergroup Audioslave, which included Morello, Tim Commerford, Brad Wilk, and Chris Cornell.
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Tom Morello Compared Post Malone To This Alt-Rock Icon
As Post Malone’s career continues to blossom into new musical avenues and styles, the rapper-turned-country star has collaborated with an equally varied list of performers, from up-and-coming indie artists like Dan Spencer to legends like Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, and even Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello. Morello hinted at his collab with Posty in a 2024 episode of The Eddie Trunk Podcast, although at the time, the song was still unfinished.
Morello said the track reminds him of Michael Jackson’s iconic hit “Beat It,” which was another enduring blend of contemporary pop and rock ‘n’ roll, thanks to Eddie Van Halen’s distinctive guitar parts. “It is a banger,” Morello said of his track with Post. “It is an absolutely awesome rock tune.”
The guitarist said writing with Post Malone was a lot like working with his former bandmate, Chris Cornell. “When we would write songs with Chris, we sort of threw music at him,” Morello said, “whether it was a simple chord progression like “I Am the Highway” or a more complicated heavy riff. He would just come up instantaneously with a bunch of great melodies. We’d put those down, and then he would write words to whatever, and that’s exactly how Post Malone does it.”
In addition to having a similar writing process to Cornell, Morello said Post Malone created equally comparable results. Morello said Post knew how to come up with an “excellent melody: hit, hooky, beautiful, terrifying melody one after another.”
The Multi-Genre Artist Is No Stranger To Rock
Post Malone has proven time and time again that his musical abilities are not confined to one genre. Whether on rap-centric tracks like “White Iverson” or country collaborations from F-1 Trillion, Post Malone sounds as comfortable as could be in just about any musical style. That includes rock ‘n’ roll, which is why Tom Morello’s comparisons of Post to Chris Cornell aren’t that surprising. After all, Post Malone has performed 1990s alt-rock hits before.
On a 2023 episode of The Howard Stern Show, Post offered listeners a fantastic cover of Alice in Chains’ “Them Bones.” On the same show a year earlier, he covered Pearl Jam’s “Better Man.” (Post has even covered the song with Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder during a benefit show in February 2023.)
Given Tom Morello’s high praise of Post and Cornell’s similar musical talents, we figure it’s only a matter of time until Post graces us with a stunning rendition of a Cornell classic like “Black Hole Sun” or “Like a Stone.”
Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame