Grunge rocker ‘felt effects of medication’
Grunge rocker with an operatic delivery
THE widow of grunge rock icon Chris Cornell has insisted he did not intentionally kill himself, saying the recovering addict’s judgment may have been impaired by prescription drugs.
Cornell, one of the most recognisable voices of Seattle’s grunge scene, was found hanging in his hotel room in Detroit shortly after he finished a show on Wednesday with his main band, Soundgarden, authorities said.
Wayne County’s medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.
But his widow, Vicky Karayiannis Cornell, said the 52-year-old, whose hits include Black Hole Sun, gave no indication that he wanted to die. — AFP
1964 - 2017
CHRIS Cornell, who has died at the age of 52, was the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and songwriter of the grunge rock band Soundgarden, best known for their powerfully melodic 1994 international hit Black Hole Sun; he later formed the rock supergroup Audioslave with former members of Rage Against the Machine.
A highly charismatic frontman, Cornell — who was tall and muscular with piercing blue eyes — possessed one of the most spectacular voices in rock, and his almost four-octave range was often compared to that of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant.
Cornell could growl and scream when required, but he could also sing with an almost operatic tunefulness that elevated all his music beyond its grunge roots. His output included four solo albums, a gentler one-off album with the group Temple of the Dog, and, in 2006, the mainstream hit single
You Know My Name, the theme for the James Bond film Casino Royale.
One of six children, he was born on July 20 1964 in Seattle. An anxious and solitary child, between the ages of nine and 11 he listened solidly to The Beatles. Throughout his teenage years Cornell suffered from spells of depression.
After a period in a Seattle cover band, the Shemps, in 1984 he cofounded Soundgarden, taking the band’s name from a large windactivated sculpture in a Seattle sculpture park. The band — which specialised in a dark and brooding sound that combined heavy metal with elements of punk — were one of the earliest to emerge from the Seattle grunge scene.
They were signed to A&M records in 1989, two years before Nirvana brought grunge to international attention with their ground-breaking album Nevermind. In 1992 Cornell had a hit single,
Hunger Strike, with his other band, Temple of the Dog, after which Soundgarden’s fourth album Superunknown (1994) launched several singles for the band, such as Black Hole Sun and
Spoonman, both of which won Grammy Awards. Superunknown sold more than nine million copies.
Soundgarden disbanded in 1998 due to creative tensions, although Cornell later blamed the break-up on the punishing touring schedule.
From the late ’90s Cornell interspersed a varied solo career with recording and performing with Audioslave.
From his teens until his late 30s Cornell was afflicted by drug and alcohol addiction. “I actually like rehab a lot,” he once said. “It’s like school.” In 2012 he and his second wife set up the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation to support vulnerable children.
He was on tour with Soundgarden when he was found dead in his hotel room in Detroit on Wednesday.
He married the manager of Soundgarden and Alice in Chains, Susan Silver, in 1990. After their divorce in 2004 he married Vicky Karayiannis, and under her influence converted to the Greek Orthodox church. She survives him with their son and daughter and a daughter from his first marriage. — © The Daily Telegraph, London
The band specialised in a dark and brooding sound that combined heavy metal with punk