Terrible, horrible week for music
THIS past week has been a terrible, horrible time for music. There is no other way to put it, no adjectives or metaphors available to describe the terrible, horrible week for music, other than just terrible and horrible.
If it wasn’t enough for rock music fans the world over dealing with the tragic death of one of its patron saints from the “grunge” movement that came out of Seattle in the mid 1990s, Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell. Mere days later in the midst of our mourning, the shameful explosion at the Ariana Grande gig at the Manchester Stadium, killing over 22 people and injuring many more, was another smack in the face to deal with. Music is supposed to make people come together; it’s not just for entertainment and a soundtrack to good times, but a healing flow and weapon the universe has created for all of us to cling to when life becomes the aggressor.
There are a lot of questions surrounding both disasters and, thanks to swift action by the British police and intelligence departments, we are learning the plans of the network leading up to the Manchester attack. But the big questions of why and how with regard to Cornell’s apparent suicide will possibly never be answered.
Cornell, a former drug user and alcoholic, had apparently been clean for a number of years. There are stories of when Cornell’s band Audioslave toured with Jane’s Addiction, that both he and guitarist Dave Navarro would invite kids from sober clinics to join them backstage, to inspire them in their sobriety and show them that life can be great when you’re clean. Cornell had three kids, a beautiful wife and the respect of musicians and fans alike for his artistry. Soundgarden, the band that propelled him to stardom, were touring again; life, from the outside and according to numerous interviews Cornell did, seemed good.
And then Soundgarden plays Detroit on that fateful Thursday night, May 18. Cornell is super excited, according to fans at the venue who met him; Cornell is in a great mood, say staff and fellow band members; Cornell is found dead lying in his hotel bathroom that night with blood coming out of his mouth and a red exercise band around his neck. Why?
Details started leaking this past week of the hours leading up to his death, and things have started to fall into place. Cornell’s wife phoned him 15 minutes after his arriving back to the hotel with the band. His speech was slurred and he told her he might have taken an extra Ativan, a prescription anti-anxiety medication. But an extra Ativan surely would not make for a suicidal Cornell.
I, like many fans, have pored over the gig footage of that night, and there is no way Cornell was performing at his best. His timing was off, he was a beat slower than the rest of the band, his vocals were not soaring with melody or strong in delivery – something was definitely very wrong. Cornell’s sound engineer, Ted Keedick, came forward and validated fans’ fears. Cornell was out of it that night; he wasn’t depressed, but he was “high and f ***** up”.
With his wife worried after the phone call, she got the band security to check on Cornell. They bashed down two locked hotel doors to find Cornell in his bathroom, dead – all within an hour of finishing the concert. Did he hang himself ? On what did he hang himself ? Why was there no suicide note? Why didn’t he say goodbye to his wife on the phone or did he and she’s not telling? Who gave Cornell the drugs that led to his relapse? Why did he relapse? Why, Chris, why?