How could we lose Chris Cornell?

Chris Cornell was a hero to many late ’ 80s and ’90s music fans, a handful of which would become the next generation of musicians. Soundgarden, which he formed with Kim Thayil and Hiro Yamamoto in 1984, paved the way for the Seattle rock music scene. Cornell was one of the four formidable rock gods—along with Alice in Chains’ Layne Staley, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain—who brought that scene to the world stage. If there was one person whose efforts and unsurpassed talent laid the foundation for grunge so the ’90s would be one of the most prolific eras in music, Cornell would be that person.

However, this hero is not without flaws. In a number of interviews, Cornell has confirmed going to rehab for substance abuse, a problem he had been dealing with since he was in his teens. He struggled with depression and anxiety.

Cornell formed Temple of the Dog in 1990 as a tribute to a former roommate who died of heroin overdose. Soundgarden disbanded in 1997, and Cornell pursued a solo career. In 2001, he joined the members of Rage Against the Machine—sans Zack dela Rocha who left the band a year prior—and formed the supergroup Audioslave.

Cornell’s music career, which spans over three decades, is nothing short of prolific. Such greatness seemed unrelenting up until his last show with Soundgarden in Detroit last week, but it would come to an end the morning after.

The rest of the world lost a rock star, but there are those who have lost a hero who gave them their musical roots, inspired them to pick up a guitar, jazz up a riff; whose songs helped them deal with troubled youth or saved them from a broken heart. Super brings you collated sentiments from figures in the local music industry and fans that have been shaken by Chris Cornell’s untimely death; people who have asked themselves over and over again, “how could we lose Chris Cornell?”