THE VOICE
Commanding frontman for Soundgarden and Audioslave, and a solo star, Chris Cornell died on May 18. 1964-2017
“I WAS TRYING TO GRAB SOMETHING THAT I COULD REALLY CALL MINE.”
Aman blessed with a remarkable voice, Chris Cornell also possessed a distinctive melodic approach that defined the music he made. On a more personal level, he was a gentlemanly, charismatic presence armed with a self-deprecating sense of humour, and a sardonic world view. A key moment in the Seattle-born singer’s life came when, aged nine, he discovered a cache of Beatles albums in an abandoned house. Graduating to punk rock in his teenage years, he drummed in several “awful bands”, before forming Soundgarden with guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Hiro Yamamoto in 1984, and assuming the role of frontman. Fusing ’70s hard rock influences with post-punk noise, the band were nevertheless brave enough to cover the Ohio Players’ 1975 funk anthem Fopp, which became the title track to their second EP in 1988. “I was trying to reach out and grab something that I could really call mine,” recalled Cornell during one of our encounters. “That’s what kept me working on songs day after day.” Initially shy and awkward in public, the singer became “absurdly extro- vert” as he grew used to performing, and soon emerged as the Seattle scene’s unlikely long-haired poster boy. It was a mantle that sat uneasily as the band began their ascent via five albums: Ultramega OK (1988), Louder Than Love (1989), Badmotorfinger (1991), the crowning US Number 1 Superunknown (1994), and Down On The Upside (1996). The latter would sell 200,000 copies in the US alone. But a year after its release, tension tore the band apart. “The punk rock guilt thing affected every Seattle band pretty dramatically,” Cornell mused, 20 years later. “I also missed the days when it was four of us against the world.” Following Soundgarden’s implosion, Cornell embarked on a solo career, releasing his debut, Euphoria Morning, in 1999. Two years later, he joined Audioslave with former members of Rage Against The Machine. During that time, the singer also battled addiction and alcohol dependency, checking himself into rehab as the band prepared to release their debut album. “I was the quintessential pitiful rock star,” he stated years later, admitting that he had battled depression from his teenage years. Two further Audioslave albums would follow before the group’s 2007 split. 2006 proved to be a pivotal year in Cornell’s career, the singer collaborating with composer David Arnold on You Know My Name, the Grammy-nominated theme to Bond film Casino Royale. That same year, he also bought a second home in Paris with his second wife, Vicky, and opened a club-cum-restaurant in the French capital called Black Calvados. Alongside his solo career, Cornell rejoined Soundgarden in 2010, and re-booted supergroup Temple Of The Dog (itself a tribute to his late friend Andrew Wood) for a brief series of US dates last year. On January 20, he was back on stage with Audioslave at the Anti-Inaugural Ball show in Los Angeles. On April 28 Soundgarden headed out on a short American tour. “What I look forward to the most… is the camaraderie,” wrote Cornell on Twitter on Monday, May 16. On Tuesday night the group played the Fox Theatre in Detroit. It would be Cornell’s last show, the singer being found dead in his hotel suite’s bathroom in the early hours of the morning. The shock that marked his tragic death aged just 52 proved universal. Cornell’s funeral took place at the Hollywood Forever cemetery on May 27, the order of service adorned with one simple quote from the man himself. It read: “We are neighbours in a modern world where proximity is relative and the threshold of our hearts moves outside time and space.” Phil Alexander