The unexpected death of Chris Cornell is a gut punch to so many musicians everywhere. Cornell was one of the most talented vocalists out there. He started out in Soundgarden then moved onto Audioslave which featured Rage Against the Machine minus Zack de la Rocha.
Soundgarden broke up in 1997, but reformed in 2010. Regarding the time they broke up, Cornell said:
“There wasn’t some sort of philosophical conflict. It was more of a day-to-day life becomes less enjoyable. And because of what we’d created, for me there was more of a preservationalist attitude towards it. Like, if this is gonna be icky, then let’s just not do it. So up to that point we hadn’t made any mistakes with our music or made any mistakes in front of our fans.”
Since then, Soundgarden recorded new music and currently were touring the U.S. They were halfway through when Cornell died suddenly in Detroit on Wednesday. Here’s his last tweet which, sadly, was from Detroit.
#Detroit finally back to Rock City!!!! @soundgarden #nomorebullshit pic.twitter.com/BqXx9veFoD
— Chris Cornell (@chriscornell) May 18, 2017
Cornell just last month remarked wistfully on touring with the guys from Soundgarden. It’s so much more depressing now that he’s passed.
What I look forward to the most — because I tour so much, especially the last couple of years, by myself — is the camaraderie. It’s what we missed when we weren’t a band. When I do solo tours, I’m really kind of alone all the time, so that’s the best thing about it.
This blows, but there’s only one way to feel better. Have Zack de la Rocha take Cornell’s place in Soundgarden.
Could you have possibly found a more unflattering picture of Chris?!