ROCK SHOCK

Soundgarden star Cornell kills self at 52

ROCKER Chris Cornell, frontman of the 1990s group Soundgarden, hanged himself in his Detroit hotel room, the city’s medical examiner ruled Thursday.

The 52-year-old Cornell was found Wednesday night at the MGM Grand Detroit with “a band around his neck,” a police spokesman told local media.

The medical examiner’s preliminary autopsy determined the grunge rock star committed suicide — confirming earlier suspicions.

The musician’s representative, Brian Bumbery, had previously confirmed that Cornell died.

The Seattle native was on tour with his band and tweeted a message celebrating their return to Rock Cityjust before performing Wednesday evening.

His final song was a 13-minute performance of Soundgarden’s “Slaves and Bulldozers,” a video of which surfaced online Thursday.

He and his band reportedly merged the song with Led Zepplin’s rendition of “In My Dying Time” — a gospel song about death.

Cornell’s wife phoned a family friend to check on the rocker in his hotel room.

The friend had to force his way into Cornell’s room and found the star dead on the bathroom floor, he added.

The singer-songwriter first made his name with Seattlebased Soundgarden. The band went on to have such hits as “Black Hole Sun” and “Spoonman” before breaking up in 1997.

Cornell went on to further success in the early 2000s when he teamed up with members of Rage Against the Machine to form the band Audioslave.

He also lent his impressive vocal range to another supergroup to honor his deceased friend Andrew Wood by teaming up with members of Pearl Jam to create Temple of the Dog.

Cornell also put out four solo studio albums between 1999 and 2015, as well as the theme song for the 2006 James Bond film “Casino Royale.”

His wife of 13 years, Vicky Karayiannis, and family were shocked by his “sudden and unexpected” death, Bumbery said.

Cornell and Karayiannis have a daughter, Toni, 12, and a son, Christopher, 11. The family requested privacy while also pledging to work with the medical examiner and other authorities.

Cornell had another daughter, Lillian, 16, from his previous marriage to Susan Silver, 58, the manager of Alice in Chains and Soundgarden.

Death of Chris Cornell, frontman of 1990s grunge band Soundgarden (in 2014, main photo, and far r. in 1996), was ruled suicide by hanging at Detroit hotel. Inset, fans embrace in Seattle, where band was formed. Below, a tribute in L.A.