Watch footage of Soundgarden’s poignant final performance
As the lead singer of Soundgarden, Chris Cornell helped to popularise grunge music alongside his Seattle contemporaries Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains. Known for his impressive vocal talents, boasting a nearly four-octave vocal range, Cornell gained a dedicated following during his career, which tragically ended on May 18th, 2017, when he was found dead in his hotel room.
Cornell spent his teenage years severely depressed, using music as a source of comfort, namely The Beatles. Eventually, he started playing music in a covers band called The Shemps, which featured his future Soundgarden bandmate, Hiro Yamamoto. In 1984, the pair formed Soundgarden alongside Kim Thayil, before recruiting drummer Scott Sundquist the following year.
After a few years of releasing music, the band were recognised with a Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance in 1990, subsequently signing to A&M Records, becoming the first grunge band to sign to a major label. As the next decade progressed, Soundgarden’s success only increased, with their single ‘Black Hole Sun’ becoming the number track of 1994 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart.
By 2001, Cornell had turned his attention to a new project, Audioslave, which he fronted alongside Rage Against the Machine members following the departure of their lead singer Zack de la Rocha. According to Tom Morell: “He stepped to the microphone and sang the song and I couldn’t believe it. It didn’t just sound good. It didn’t sound great. It sounded transcendent. And … when there is an irreplaceable chemistry from the first moment, you can’t deny it.”
Audioslave earned three Grammy nominations during their six-year run, selling eight million records worldwide. Whether you are a fan of either band or not, the beauty of Cornell’s voice is undeniable. Upon his death, Alice Cooper shared how “in our circle, [Cornell] was known as ‘The Voice’ because he had the best voice in rock and roll.”
Despite Soundgarden’s disbandment in 1997, they reunited in 2010, releasing a studio album, King Animal, two years later. However, after working on new music in 2016, plans for another album were cancelled when Cornell sadly took his own life the following year. The incident occurred in an MGM Grand hotel room following a Soundgarden performance at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan.
Cornell’s suicide came as a shock to his friends, family, and fans, especially since he was in a particularly successful period of his career. Fan videos from the concert that took place just hours before his death were uploaded to YouTube in honour of the late singer, showcasing his magnificent voice. Videos of the full performance, which included tracks such as ‘Black Hole Sun’, ‘Rusty Cage’, ‘Fell on Black Days’ and set closer ‘Slaves and Bulldozers’, which merged into Led Zeppelin’s ‘In My Time of Dying’ can be found online.
Check out a clip of the full performance below.
