Soundgarden remember Chris Cornell on eight-year anniversary of death and tease unreleased album
On the eighth anniversary of Chris Cornell’s death, Soundgarden have issued a positive update on the album they made with the late frontman before his passing in 2016.
In the years following Cornell’s death, the surviving members of Soundgarden have been locked in a legal feud with the frontman’s widow, Vicky Cornell, regarding unpaid royalties and the rights to unfinished material.
The two parties reportedly reached an “amicable out of court resolution” in 2023. However, he dispute still continued to rumble on afterwards, casting doubt on whether Cornell’s final works would ever be heard, but progress now appears to have been made.
When asked about the unheard final album and whether it will ever see the light of day, guitarist Kim Thayil previously told Rolling Stone: “I think so. Our objective and goal was always to complete that. I probably have OCD enough to not want to leave something unfinished or incomplete like that, so I think the more we can attend to our body of work and our catalogue…I think everyone in the band feels that way.”
He added: “I don’t just to attend to my work, but the collective work, and in this case specifically, the work of Chris.”
Now, in a post on Soundgarden’s official Instagram, the band’s Ben Shepherd revealed he’d been listening to ‘The Road Less Traveled’ which is one of the unreleased songs and explained how it had helped him with his grief. He revealed that it was wrote by Cornell and Matt Cameron for their “album that has yet to be named”.
Shepherd wrote: “Just hearing Chris’ voice helps. I know he did that for everyone he knew. He did for me, filled with self-doubt and indebtedness. In just his tone, [he] knew what I was going through and forgave me like he always did, even when he was older. It’s at this point of recording all of our previous albums I’d get this overwhelming hit of awe, camaraderie, power of creativity — majesty even — and love, from the music, and my bandmates, and I guess just pure life force.”
The Soundgarden musician continued: “I am very blessed by my loved ones and very honored to have known or worked with each of my brothers Kim, Matt and Chris in this path of music and life, of loves and losses, righteousness and folly, but I can tell you, it feels good and invigorating to hear Chris singing from over that horizon and hear the mighty, mighty life of souls sharing… To hear, as a fan and band member, a song or two Chris brought in a few years ago turn before my very ears and finger blisters into a full blown Soundgarden tune is like feeling a glacier fall away off your chest.”
The surviving members of Soundgarden are set to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this year. They will also perform at Villa Park on July 5th for Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s final show.
Shepherd’s full post is available to view below.
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