RIP Chris Cornell

[chuckrh]

I am in total shock. I knew him a little.

http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/musi ... 52-n761391

[Tequila Cowboy]

Terrible. Way to young. RIP.

[Howlinwolf]

Wow - nothing but stunned by this news out of Detroit...the voice of the power rock n roll scene in Seattle.

Below was from an article:

Cornell was one of the leading voices of the 1990s grunge movement with Soundgarden. The band emerged as one of the biggest bands out of Seattle’s emerging music scene, joining the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains.

Formed in 1984 by Cornell, guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Hiro Yamamoto, Soundgarden's third studio album, "Badmotorfinger," in 1991 spawned enormously popular singles "Jesus Christ Pose," ''Rusty Cage" and "Outshined" that received regular play on alternative rock radio stations.

Cornell also collaborated with some members of Pearl Jam to form the band Temple of the Dog, which produced a self-title album in 1991 in tribute to friend Andrew Wood, the former frontman for Mother Love Bone.

Three years later, Soundgarden broke through on mainstream radio with the album "Superunknown," which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Record in 1995. It included hit singles "Spoonman," ''Fell on Black Days," ''Black Hole Sun," ''My Wave" and "The Day I Tried to Live."

I remember Soundgarden played a gig in Atlanta outside during the Olympics and I was a bit late getting there coming from a baseball game at Fulton County Stadium, as I was riding my bike to the show I could hear Cornell screaming his vocals blocs away echoing off the buildings... Recently saw the Temple of The Dog reunion at the Garden and he was in fine form...just stunned.

[Zip City]

Awful. And they were scheduled to play here tomorrow night, so he's been on my mind.

Grunge was at its peak during my senior year of high school, and we've seen Cobain, Staley and now Cornell all go too soon

[Iowan]

It's hard not to assume overdose, but I can't ever remember Cornell having a long standing junky rep.

Fucking bummer. He was one of the best rock vocalists, period.

[chuckrh]

Awful. And they were scheduled to play here tomorrow night, so he's been on my mind.

Grunge was at its peak during my senior year of high school, and we've seen Cobain, Staley and now Cornell all go too soon

& Andrew Wood. He didn't really get famous until after he passed though.

[chuckrh]

It's hard not to assume overdose, but I can't ever remember Cornell having a junky rep.

Fucking bummer. He was one of the best rock vocalists, period.

There are reports out that it is being investigated as a suicide. & you are correct, he didn't have a junkie rep. He was candid about some alcohol problems though & had been to rehab. I was at ground zero working in distribution during the grunge years in Seattle. I have a pic of me & Chris somewhere. Before he moved out of Seattle (post divorce wife #1), he lived about a mile away from me. I believe his daughter from that marriage still lives in Seattle.

[Bill in CT]

This is such terrible news. I have been a fan of that era of Seattle music for many years and Soundgarden was the first band of that scene that I saw - 1/19/90 at The Ritz in NYC. They were the 2nd band of the night. Faith No More opened and Voivod closed the show. I saw Soundgarden again that August at the Beacon. I didn't see them again until 2011 although I followed their career all along. The 2014 Bridge School Benefit with both Soundgarden and Pearl Jam on the bill and hearing Cornell & Vedder do "Hunger Strike" in person was a highlight of my years going to that benefit. Last November I went with our own SteveInCTNeedsADrink to MSG to see Temple Of The Dog. That was a wonderful show.
I recently picked up the reissue of Ultramega OK and I still love it as much as I did the original SST CD way back when. Decibel magazine recently inducted the album into their "Hall of Fame" and the story was the cover story for that issue (which is atypical for HoF features).

[Bill in CT]

[phungi]

This is such terrible news. I have been a fan of that era of Seattle music for many years and Soundgarden was the first band of that scene that I saw - 1/19/90 at The Ritz in NYC. They were the 2nd band of the night. Faith No More opened and Voivod closed the show. I saw Soundgarden again that August at the Beacon. I didn't see them again until 2011 although I followed their career all along. The 2014 Bridge School Benefit with both Soundgarden and Pearl Jam on the bill and hearing Cornell & Vedder do "Hunger Strike" in person was a highlight of my years going to that benefit. Last November I went with our own SteveInCTNeedsADrink to MSG to see Temple Of The Dog. That was a wonderful show.
I recently picked up the reissue of Ultramega OK and I still love it as much as I did the original SST CD way back when. Decibel magazine recently inducted the album into their "Hall of Fame" and the story was the cover story for that issue (which is atypical for HoF features).

I am right there with you, Bill. Discovered Soundgarden and Pearl Jam about the same time, circa 1991, and saw them share a bill at Lollapalooza '92. Saw Cornell numerous times, with SG, solo, and most recently with Temple of the Dog... Listened to ToTD this morning, and the feeling was eerie. What a tremendous talent lost.

[211poundsofpork]

Indeed, very sad. Always a fan of Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden out of the early 90's era. (never a fan of Kurt Cobain or Nirvana in the least.) First Soundgarden related tune to play randomly on my STP station on Pandora at work this morning?: TotD: Say Hello to Heaven.

[DiamondDave]

Got the news super early this morning via facebook. I initially hoped it was a hoax.
Pretty crushing. Myself, and some of my oldest friends were all working/managing record stores in the late 80's. I was a huge Andrew Wood/MLB fan from their first recordings. Soundgarden, Green River/Mudhoney and pretty much anything on Sub Pop was gold for us. Temple Of the Dog was about as good as it got, And then Pearl Jam rose from the ashes of MLB and raised the stakes even more.

Grunge has officially died today.

[RMD]

Crushed. This one hit me hard. Went online this a.m. to check the set list from last night and then this news pops up. All my best to his family and friends. Too sad.

[Cole Younger]

You're always surprised when these things happen but this was particularly shocking to me. My favorite band from that scene is probably Alice In Chains but Soundgarden was always great and mainly because of Cornell's vocals. For me anyway.

He was one of my all time favorite rock vocalists. When talking about him I would always say I would be happy to listen to Chris Cornell sing the phone book. One of my buddies came up to me at work today and gave me the news saying it was an apparent suicide. That is the part that is really shocking to me. My image of Chris Cornell was that he seemed like he had it together more than a lot of people who are famous or make music for a living. You never know what a person is dealing with. I wish he hadn't chosen what he did.

Say hello to heaven.

[John A Arkansawyer]

The only song of his I really know is "Black Hole Sun", but I really love that song.

This turned up in my newsfeed today: Chris Cornell's final performance: Something clearly wasn’t right

[chuckrh]

Really really depressed about this. The grunge years were my glory days on some levels. I think this is hitting harder than Kurt Cobain did. We all knew there was trouble there. This is just so out of the blue. 1 more day of work. Going to be another long one.

[phungi]

...Say hello to heaven.

Listening to Temple of the Dog, and the lyrics have an entirely different meaning...

[Cole Younger]

...Say hello to heaven.

Listening to Temple of the Dog, and the lyrics have an entirely different meaning...

This is maybe an odd thought but I almost feel like I'm sadder about this than I should be. I mean it's not like I knew the guy. Of course the news of his passing was going to be sad but I've really been kind of down since I heard about it. I think it is just one of those instances that drives home the realization that time marches on. All the things we love will eventually pass on. And we have to say goodbye to people that are special to us. Even if we do didn't "know" them in the real sense of the word. I'm not trying to bum everybody out but that's what I've been thinking about since yesterday. I used to have a recording of an acoustic solo performance Chris did. This was around ten years ago and I want to say it was in France. He did Billy Jean for the first time that I ever knew of and while I'm by no means a Michael Jackson fan at all I thought it was a cool cover. He also did Redemption Song, and did Thank You by Led Zeppelin. It was a great show but what really blew me away was the version of Call Me A Dog that he did that night. I remember a video of it on YouTube that used that recording with a montage of pictures of Chris. I watched it last night and it was freaking haunting. I'll miss him. I already miss him. We lost a giant.

[DiamondDave]

The only song of his I really know is "Black Hole Sun", but I really love that song.

This turned up in my newsfeed today: Chris Cornell's final performance: Something clearly wasn’t right

Interesting article.

[Howlinwolf]

Well it looks like this is the ugly fuckin truth....

(taken from NY Post - May 19, 2017)
Legendary rocker Chris Cornell used a red exercise band and a special clip to kill himself inside a Detroit hotel room, according to a new report.

Cornell, 52, who took his life Wednesday after playing a show with Soundgarden, attached the exercise band to a carabiner — a shackle typically used for rock climbing — to the top of the bathroom door in his room at the MGM Grand Detroit, TMZ reported Friday.

The grunge icon jammed the door shut with the carabiner and hanged himself, the celebrity gossip website reported.
Earlier on Friday, Cornell’s family — in a statement through a lawyer — said they’re “disturbed” at “inferences that Chris knowingly and intentionally” killed himself, suggesting that side effects from a prescribed anti-anxiety drug, Ativan, may have played a role.

Cornell’s wife of 13 years, Vicky Karayiannis, said in the statement that her husband, a recovering addict, was slurring his words when she spoke to him by phone after his performance at Fox Theatre in the Motor City, and told her “he may have took an extra Ativan or two.”

The family is awaiting the results of toxicology tests.
During the couple’s phone conversation, Cornell repeatedly told Karayiannis, “I am just tired,” the Detroit News reported, citing a police report that the news outlet obtained.

A panicked Karayiannis said she then contacted bodyguard Martin Kirsten to check on Cornell around midnight, the local newspaper reported.
The bodyguard found Cornell in the bathroom “with blood running from his mouth and a red exercise band around [his] neck,” the police report said, according to the Detroit News.
According to the report, Kirsten was in Cornell’s room around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday to help Cornell fix his computer, and Kirsten gave Cornell two Ativan pills, “which the victim takes for anxiety.”

This just does not makes any sense ....I'm literally sick about the news of Chris.... so fucking tragic, why? why? why?

[Smitty]

Damn. Hell of an artist. I echo what others say about him seemingly having it together, especially relative to other musicians that came from that scene.

I abused benzos a lot back in the day and the main reason I stopped is because I would do things that were seriously out of character and then have little or no memory of it. It was frightening; I woke up one morning thinking it was Monday and asking my ex-wife why the hell there were little burn spots all over the lawn; she said I had spent the better part of the week rummaging through our outbuilding and burning stuff we had stored in little fires all over the yard. I found out it was actually Friday, and in that week I had lost my job, burnt most of my belongings and went through a month's supply of klonopin, which was either 90 or 120 pills. Not long afterwards I ended up having a seizure from stopping cold turkey. The point I'm getting at is if I was suffering from serious suicidal ideation I could totally see a couple extra xanax or ativan being the catalyst for taking it too far. Benzos are certainly a "it don't make you but it let's you" drug. They can be a godsend for some people if taken responsibly, but can turn someone into someone completely different and destroy their life if abused.

Regardless, this is just fucking sad. His music touched so many lives, including my own. While I didn't follow his career closely or listen to his work regularly or as much as many others, I did love his work and the Temple of the Dog record was a seminal album for me as an adolescent. I never got into Soundgarden as obsessively as I did PJ, AiC and Nirvana, but I did get a lot of mileage out of Superunknown and Badmotorfinger when I was a teenager. I need to revisit those records. I do have a really deep personal connection to his song "Sunshower" which although I haven't listened to it in a decade or more) would surely take me back to a specific time and place were I to hear it today. Music's a powerful, sacred thing and he contributed greatly to the doctrine.

[Howlinwolf]

Josh, the guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers paid a nice tribute to Chris the other night in Indy:

http://www.jambands.com/news/2017/05/19 ... ianapolis/

[chuckrh]

picked up the deluxe "singles" reissue yesterday. lot of chris stuff on disc 2. haven't played yet. easy street records seattle had a celebration of life last night. wasn't up for it but the store had a lot of cds & tshirts in already. "singles" was a pretty mighty soundtrack & the reissue has extensive notes from cameron crowe.

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

in just a bit over a year, sadly, three great artists died shortly after playing his last show at a Fox Theatre: Prince and Col. Bruce Hampton in Atlanta, and Chris Cornell in Detroit

[cortez the killer]

I was a big Soundgarden fan back in my college years. Louder Than Love, Badmotorfinger, Superunknown & Down on the Upside got a lot of spins back in the day. One of my high school friends, who later became a huge junkie, was instrumental in guiding me into the world of grunge back in 1991. Just awful news. I have always loved this song and it will take on deeper meaning moving forward.



RIP, Chris.

[John A Arkansawyer]

It’s not what you think

Chris Cornell committed suicide on May 18, 2017, at the age of 52. He was a dad. He was a philanthropist. He was becoming an elder statesman of rock. He was a grown up. Cornell was aging gracefully, even doing that thing where some guys get better looking as they get older. He got Soundgarden back together, and they made a great new album a couple years ago. His voice still had all the power and strength it had displayed in his youth. Much like the rest of us, the world had kicked his ass a couple times, and he survived.

[Zip City]

I hear they dedicated this to tinnitus



but in all seriousness, that's a rock-solid cover. nice work

[DiamondDave]

It’s not what you think

Chris Cornell committed suicide on May 18, 2017, at the age of 52. He was a dad. He was a philanthropist. He was becoming an elder statesman of rock. He was a grown up. Cornell was aging gracefully, even doing that thing where some guys get better looking as they get older. He got Soundgarden back together, and they made a great new album a couple years ago. His voice still had all the power and strength it had displayed in his youth. Much like the rest of us, the world had kicked his ass a couple times, and he survived.

I saw this shared by someone on FB. IT has really stood out to me as the most well written piece on Cornell.
Thanks for sharing it here.

[tinnitus photography]

I hear they dedicated this to tinnitus



but in all seriousness, that's a rock-solid cover. nice work

after now seeing all three play, i am convinced that the Avetts, the Lumineers and Mumford and Sons are all the same band.

[DiamondDave]

I hear they dedicated this to tinnitus



but in all seriousness, that's a rock-solid cover. nice work

after now seeing all three play, i am convinced that the Avetts, the Lumineers and Mumford and Sons are all the same band.