Chris Cornell, lead singer of Soundgarden, known for being of the early 90’s grunge movement, has died at 52 years old.
Chris Cornell died Wednesday night in Detroit, said his representative, Brian Bumbery, in a statement that called the death “sudden and unexpected” and that said the singer’s family would be “working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause.”
Dontae Freeman, a spokesman for the Detroit Police Department, said in an interview that at about midnight officers responded at the MGM Grand casino to an apparent suicide of a white man, who was pronounced dead on the scene. He would not confirm the victim’s name. Dontae Freeman said that the victim’s wife called a family friend to check on the victim; the family friend forced his way into the room and found the individual unresponsive on the bathroom floor.
The victim was found with a band around his neck, Dontae Freeman said. He added that the police were not confirming that the victim died of a suicide, though the preliminary determination was an “apparent suicide.” He said that more details would be released in a statement later Thursday.
Chris Cornell was born on July 20th, 1964 in Seattle and helped form in 1984. Sub Pop released the group’s first single, “Hunted Down,” in 1987, as well as two subsequent EPs. The group’s debut album, “Ultramega OK,” was released in 1988.
Soundgarden’s third album “Badmotorfinger,” released in 1991, gained a lot of attention as being apart of the Seattle grunge scene, along with Nirvana and Pearl Jam, were playing a high-octane, high-angst brand of rock ’n’ roll. Soundgarden’s musical style lead more towards the knotty and dark, plunging into off-kilter meters and punctuated by Chris Cornell’s voice, which could quickly shift from a soulful howl to a gritty growl.
Three of Soundgarden’s studio albums have been certified platinum, including “Superunknown,” from 1994, which featured “Black Hole Sun,” “Fell on Black Days,” “Spoonman” and “My Wave.”
Soundgarden which includes guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Ben Shepherd and drummer Matt Cameron disbanded in 1997, but reunited in 2010 and performed regularly since then. In 2012, Soundgarden released “King Animal” the band’s first album in 16 years.
Soundgarden played at the Fox Theater in Detroit on Wednesday night, and it had been scheduled to perform in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday at the Rock on the Range festival.
Chris Cornell appeared to be active on social media in the hours before his death. He posted on his Twitter account on Wednesday announcing that the group had arrived in Detroit, and a clip of the group’s 2012 release “By Crooked Steps” was posted to his official Facebook page hours before his death.
Chris Cornell had admitted in interviews to struggling with drug use throughout his life. Back in a 1994 Rolling Stone article, he described himself as a “daily drug user at 13,” who had quit by the time he turned 14.
After Soundgarden disbanded in 1997, Chris Cornell returned to heavy drug use, he told The Guardian in a 2009 interview, describing himself as a “pioneer” in the abuse of the opiate OxyContin, and saying that he had gone to rehab.
Chris Cornell released five solo albums during and after his time with Soundgarden, starting with the 1999 LP “Euphoria Morning.” His 2007 album “Carry On” featured an acoustic cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” that served as the inspiration for a well-received version of the song on “American Idol.” He also contributed the song “Seasons” to the soundtrack of “Singles,” Cameron Crowe’s love letter to the Seattle music scene, and performed alongside other members of Soundgarden in the film.
In 2001, after Rage Against the Machine’s lead singer, Zack de la Rocha, left the group, Chris Cornell and members of the band formed Audioslave. The group released three albums before announcing its split in 2007.
Rage Against The Machine posted a message on Twitter honoring Chris Cornell shortly after news of his death began to spread online.
— Rage Against The Machine ★ (@RATM) May 18, 2017
In November 2016, Chris Cornell hit the road for the first time with another supergroup of sorts, Temple of the Dog, which features members of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. The group was formed 25 years ago as a tribute to Andrew Wood, the lead singer of the Seattle bands Malfunkshun and Mother Love Bone, who died in March 1990 of a heroin overdose.
When speaking to The New York Times, Chris Cornell said the group had decided to finally bring its songs to life to honor Mr. Wood. Chris Cornell said “I thought, well, this is one thing that I can do to remind myself and maybe other people of who this guy is and was and keep his story and in a way his life with us.”
