Chris Cornell (born Christopher John Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 17, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter and rhythm guitarist for Seattle rock band Soundgarden and as lead vocalist and songwriter for the group Audioslave. He was also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1991, and as founder and frontman for Temple of the Dog, the one-off tribute band dedicated to his late friend Andrew Wood.
Cornell was known for his role as one of the architects of the 1990s grunge movement, for his extensive catalog as a songwriter and for his near four octave vocal range as well as his powerful vocal belting technique. He released four solo studio albums, Euphoria Morning (1999), Carry On (2007), Scream (2009), Higher Truth (2015) and the live album Songbook (2011). Cornell received a Golden Globe Award nomination for his song "The Keeper" which appeared in the film Machine Gun Preacher and co-wrote and performed the theme song to the James Bond film Casino Royale (2006), "You Know My Name". He was voted "Rock's Greatest Singer" by readers of Guitar World, ranked 4th in the list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists" by Hit Parader, 9th in the list of "Best Lead Singers of All Time" by Rolling Stone, and 12th in MTV's "22 Greatest Voices in Music"
Early life Cornell was born on July 20, 1964 and raised in Seattle, Washington, and attended Christ the King Catholic elementary school, and Shorewood High School. His parents are Ed Boyle (a pharmacist) and Karen Cornell (an accountant). He has five siblings: older brothers Peter and Patrick, and younger sisters Katy, Suzy, and Maggie. Peter, Katy and Suzy all performed in the band Inflatable Soule in the 1990s. Peter was the lead vocalist for the New York-based rock band Black Market Radio and released a new solo album, Champion, in 2014. Katy performs as lead vocalist for the Seattle band Into the Cold.
Cornell spent a two-year period between the ages of nine and eleven solidly listening to The Beatles after finding a large collection of Beatles records abandoned in the basem*nt of a neighbor's house. Cornell was a loner; however, he was able to deal with his anxiety around other people through rock music. During his teenage years, Chris spiralled into severe depression, dropped out of school and almost never left the house during his state of depression. Before becoming a successful musician, he worked at a seafood wholesaler and was a sous-chef at a restaurant named Ray's Boathouse.
In the early 1980s, Cornell was a member of a cover band called The Shemps that performed around Seattle. The Shemps also featured bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Following Yamamoto's departure from The Shemps, the band recruited guitarist Kim Thayil as its new guitarist. Cornell and Yamamoto stayed in contact, and after The Shemps broke up, Cornell and Yamamoto started jamming together, eventually bringing in Thayil to join them.
Recording career
1984–1997; 2010–2017: Soundgarden Soundgarden was formed in 1984 by Cornell, Thayil and Yamamoto with Cornell originally on drums and vocals. In 1985, the band enlisted Scott Sundquist as the drummer to allow Cornell to concentrate on vocals. The band's first recordings were three songs that appeared on a compilation for C/Z Records called Deep Six. In 1986, Sundquist, who by that point had a wife and a child, decided to leave the band and spend time with his family. He was replaced by Matt Cameron, the drummer for Skin Yard, who became Soundgarden's permanent drummer.
Soundgarden signed to Sub Pop, releasing the Screaming Life EP in 1987 and the Fopp EP in 1988 (a combination of the two was issued as Screaming Life/Fopp in 1990). Though the band was being courted by major labels, in 1988 they signed to SST Records to release their debut album, Ultramega OK (1988), for which they earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance in 1990.= The band subsequently signed with A&M Records, becoming the first grunge band to sign to a major label. In 1989, the band released their second effort, and their first for a major label, Louder Than Love. Following the release of Louder Than Love, Yamamoto left the band to finish his master's degree in physical chemistry at Western Washington University. He was replaced by former Nirvana guitarist Jason Everman. Everman was fired following Soundgarden's tour supporting Louder Than Love. In 1990, the band was joined by a new bassist, Ben Shepherd.
Along with Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam, Soundgarden became one of the most successful bands from Seattle's emerging grunge scene in the early 1990s. With Shepherd, the new line-up recorded Badmotorfinger in 1991. The album brought the band to a new level of commercial success, and Soundgarden found itself amidst the sudden popularity and attention given to the Seattle music scene. Badmotorfinger included the singles "Jesus Christ Pose", "Outshined", and "Rusty Cage". The three singles gained considerable airtime on alternative rock radio stations, while the videos for "Outshined" and "Rusty Cage" gained considerable airtime on MTV. The song "Jesus Christ Pose" and its music video was the subject of widespread controversy in 1991, and the video was removed from MTV's playlist. "Rusty Cage" was later covered by Johnny Cash on his 1996 album, Unchained. It also appeared on the fictional radio station Radio X on the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and in the 32-bit version of Road Rash. "Room a Thousand Years Wide" was released previously as a single in 1990, but not to promote the album. It was released (with the song "HIV Baby") as a 7" through Sub Pop's Single of the Month club a full year before the release of Badmotorfinger. The song was re-recorded for this album. Badmotorfinger was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1992. It was also ranked number 45 in the October 2006 issue of Guitar World on the magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitar albums of all time.
Superunknown became the band's breakthrough album. Upon its release in March 1994, Superunknown debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album launched several successful singles, including "Spoonman" and "Black Hole Sun", and granted Soundgarden international recognition. Superunknown achieved quintuple platinum status in the United States, triple platinum status in Canada, and gold status in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Rolling Stone gave Superunknown four out of five stars. Reviewer J.D. Considine said Superunknown "demonstrates far greater range than many bands manage in an entire career." Considine criticized "Black Hole Sun" and "Half", stating that the former is "not a very good song" while the latter "is the virtual definition of a B-side." Jon Pareles of The New York Times said that "Superunknown actually tries to broaden its audience by breaking heavy-metal genre barriers that Soundgarden used to accept." He added that "Soundgarden ... want[s] something different from standard heavy metal." David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an A. He said, "Soundgarden is pumped and primed on Superunknown, and they deliver the goods." He praised it as a "hard-rock milestone-a boiling vat of volcanic power, record-making smarts, and '90s anomie and anxiety that sets a new standard for anything called metal." The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 1995. Two singles from Superunknown, "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman", won Grammy Awards, and the music video for "Black Hole Sun" won a MTV Video Music Award and a Clio Award. Superunknown was ranked number 336 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and "Black Hole Sun" was ranked number 25 on VH1's list of the 100 greatest songs of the '90s.
The band's fifth album was 1996's self-produced Down on the Upside. The album spawned several singles, including "Pretty Noose", "Burden in My Hand", and "Blow Up the Outside World". The album was notably less heavy than the group's preceding albums, and marked a further departure from the band's grunge roots. Soundgarden explained at the time that it wanted to experiment with other sounds. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly said, "Few bands since Led Zeppelin have so crisply mixed instruments both acoustic and electric." However, tensions within the group arose during the sessions, with Thayil and Cornell reportedly clashing over Cornell's desire to shift away from the heavy guitar riffing that had become the band's trademark. Despite favorable reviews, the album did not match the sales of Superunknown. In 1997, Soundgarden received another Grammy nomination, for the lead single "Pretty Noose". Due to tensions within the band, reportedly due to internal strife over its creative direction, Soundgarden announced it was disbanding on April 9, 1997. In a 1998 interview, Thayil said, "It was pretty obvious from everybody's general attitude over the course of the previous half-year that there was some dissatisfaction."
On January 1, 2010, Cornell alluded to a Soundgarden reunion via his Twitter account, writing: "The 12-year break is over and school is back in session. Sign up now. Knights of the Soundtable ride again!" The message linked to a website that features a picture of the group performing live and a place for fans to enter their e-mail address to get updates on the reunion. Entering that information unlocks an archival video for the song "Get on the Snake", from Soundgarden's second studio album, 1989's Louder Than Love.
In April 2010, Soundgarden announced their plans to headline Lollapalooza 2010. Soundgarden made the announcement through their website and email list. On April 16, 2010, Soundgarden held a secret show at the Showbox Theater on First Avenue in downtown Seattle, publicized via the band's mailing list. The show was billed as Nudedragons, an anagram for Soundgarden. Asked in August 2010 if Soundgarden will record new material, Cornell replied, "it would be exciting to record one song, to hear how Soundgarden-ish that might be this much time later. But for me, it's been more of a trip relearning the songs and playing them together. Some of the songs we're approaching we've never played live."
Soundgarden made their first television appearance since their reunion on Conan O'Brien's second episode of Conan on November 9, 2010 on TBS and toured North America in summer 2011. In summer 2012, Soundgarden released a new single & video, "Live to Rise", for The Avengers movie soundtrack. Their sixth album, King Animal, was released in November 2012 to largely positive reviews.
Soundgarden had continued to tour worldwide and guitarist Kim Thayil mentioned in several interviews that the band was to begin work on material for their seventh album.
1998–2000; 2006–2017: Solo career In 1998, Cornell began working on material for a solo album on which he collaborated with Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider of the band Eleven. The album, titled Euphoria Morning, was released on September 21, 1999. In his first ever solo tour Cornell spent seven months on the road from September 13, 1999 to March 7, 2000 playing 61 shows in support of Euphoria Morning. Cornell performed two of those coinciding with the debut of the album on September 21 and 22, 1999 at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood California. Attendance for the shows were high, considering he performed the initial shows before fans were even familiar with the music. The touring band was made up of some of the contributing musicians Alain Johannes, Natasha Shneider, Rick Markmann, and Greg Upchurch. The album proved commercially unsuccessful although the album's single "Can't Change Me" was nominated for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance at the 2000 Grammy Awards. Euphoria Morning includes "Wave Goodbye", Cornell's tribute to his late friend Jeff Buckley. It has been noted that Euphoria Morning is influenced by Buckley's songwriting and distinctive vocal style. He also contributed the song "Sunshower" (a bonus track on the Japanese release of Euphoria Morning) to the soundtrack of the 1998 film, Great Expectations, and a reworked version of the track "Mission", retitled "Mission 2000", was used on the soundtrack to the 2000 film, Mission: Impossible 2. An unreleased song called "Heart of Honey" was also recorded in collaboration with Johannes and Shneider during this period. According to Alain Johannes, "Heart of Honey" was recorded for the film Titan A.E. but not used.
Cornell and composer David Arnold collaborated on the song "You Know My Name", which Cornell co-wrote and performed and which accompanies the opening titles for the 2006 James Bond film, Casino Royale. "You Know My Name" is the first theme song since 1983's Octopuss* to use a different title than the film, the first ever sung by a male American, and the first ever title theme song that did not appear on the soundtrack album. "You Know My Name" won a 2006 Satellite Award in the category of Best Original Song, and a 2007 World Soundtrack Award in the category of Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film. The song was also nominated for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media at the 2008 Grammy Awards. This song became the first song recorded for his solo album, which he began work on in 2007.
Though not officially released onto CD, an hour-long acoustic concert Cornell performed on September 7, 2006 at O-Baren in Stockholm, is widely available for download under the title Chris Cornell: Unplugged in Sweden. A promotional CD for his solo album, Carry On, was released in March 2007, titled The Roads We Choose – A Retrospective. The 17-song CD included songs from Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave and Cornell's solo work.
On June 5, 2007, Cornell released his second solo album, Carry On, produced by Steve Lillywhite. It debuted at number 17 on the American Billboard charts. Among the artists who accompanied him on his second solo release was friend Gary Lucas, who contributed acoustic guitar to some of the tracks. Cornell has stated that he is always writing, and that there are some songs that he was not able to put onto an Audioslave album. While recording his second solo album, Cornell was involved in a motorcycle accident. He was apparently "rear-ended by a truck in L.A.'s Studio City while riding his motorcycle" and "catapulted 20 feet into the air." He was able to walk away from the accident, but had severe cuts and bruises. He returned to the studio later that day.
In 2007, Cornell appeared as support to Aerosmith on at least two legs of their 2007 world tour—Dublin, London, and Hyde Park—and to Linkin Park in Australia and New Zealand. These shows formed part of his own ongoing world tour which began in April 2007 and continued into 2008 and 2009. Cornell has described his touring band—comprising guitarists Yogi Lonich and Peter Thorn, bassist Corey McCormick and drummer Jason Sutter—as "musicians that could get the whole picture" playing music by Soundgarden and Audioslave, as well as his solo material.
In 2008, Cornell was featured on the Main Stage of Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution tour. Throughout the tour, Cornell collaborated with Chester Bennington from Linkin Park while performing "Hunger Strike", and with Street Drum Corps for a number of his Soundgarden tracks. While Linkin Park would perform their Grammy-winning song "Crawling", he would appear on stage singing the second verse of the song, the outro, and harmonies Aaron Lewis provided for the Reanimation version.
Cornell worked with producer Timbaland on his studio album Scream, which was released on March 10, 2009. Timbaland has referred to the recording sessions as "The best work I've done in my career," and predicted that Cornell will be the "first rock star in the club." Cornell called the new album "a highlight of my career." The album was largely panned by critics, but was the highest charting album of Cornell's solo career, reaching # 10 on the Billboard 200.
On April 2, 2009, Cornell took over Atlanta Rock station, Project 961, WKLS. For 24 hours the station became "Chris-FM" and included a two-hour special of Cornell DJing and playing his favorite songs of his career with the stories behind them leading up to a rebroadcast of his solo show from the previous night. On September 11, 2009, Cornell performed John Lennon's "Imagine" on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.
In January 2011 Cornell announced his solo acoustic 'Songbook' tour, following on from a series of acclaimed solo acoustic shows in Los Angeles during 2009 and 2010. The first leg of the sold-out tour began on April 1, 2011 and continued through the US and Canada until May 6, resuming in October and visiting New Zealand, Australia, South America and the US, ending December 17. The tour received universally positive reviews.
In August 2011 Cornell released "The Keeper", an original song written for the Marc Forster directed 2011 film Machine Gun Preacher and nominated in 2012 for a Golden Globe. For the first 24 hours of release, the song was exclusively available as part of the "Donate to Download" campaign for Sam Childers' Angels of East Africa children's charity. The song is also the lead track on the film's soundtrack album.
In November 2011 Cornell released Songbook, an acoustic live album featuring songs recorded during Cornell's 'Songbook' tour in North America. It was his first live album as a solo artist and includes stripped-down solo performances of songs from Cornell's whole career as a solo artist as well as with Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog plus covers of Led Zeppelin's "Thank You" and John Lennon's "Imagine". The album received largely positive reviews, with AllMusic, calling it Cornell's "best solo offering to date". Cornell continued his "Songbook" tour in Europe and the US during 2012 and 2013 to further acclaim.
In January 2015, Cornell announced via his Twitter account that he was in the studio recording a new solo album. Cornell's new studio album, Higher Truth, was released on September 18, 2015.
The last solo release prior to his death, was the charity single "The Promise", written for the ending credits for the movie of the same name about the Armenian Genocide.
2001–2007: Audioslave Audioslave was formed after Zack de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine and the remaining members were searching for another vocalist. Producer and friend Rick Rubin suggested that they contact Cornell. Rubin played the Soundgarden song "Slaves & Bulldozers" for the remaining Rage Against the Machine band members to showcase his ability. Cornell was in the writing process of a second solo album, but decided to shelve that and pursue the opportunity to work with Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk when they approached him. Morello described Cornell: "He stepped to the microphone and sang the song and I couldn't believe it. It didn't just sound good. It didn't sound great. It sounded transcendent. And ... when there is an irreplaceable chemistry from the first moment, you can't deny it." The quartet wrote 21 songs during 19 days of rehearsal and began working in the studio in late May 2001.
Their debut album, Audioslave, released in November 2002, spawned hits such as "Cochise", "Like a Stone" and "Show Me How to Live", and has reached triple platinum status in the United States. The band was nearly derailed before the album's release; Cornell was going through alcohol problems and a slot on the Ozzfest tour was canceled. During this time, there was a rumor that Cornell had checked himself into drug rehabilitation. He later confirmed it in an interview with Metal Hammer that was conducted from a clinic payphone. In a San Diego CityBeat article, Cornell explained that he went through "a horrible personal crisis" during the making of the first record, staying in rehab for two months and separating from his wife. The problems were ironed out and he has remained sober since this time. The band toured through 2003, before resting in 2004 to record their second album.
Audioslave's second album, Out of Exile, was released in May 2005 and debuted at number one on the U.S. charts. The album has since gone on to achieve platinum status. The album features the singles "Out of Exile", "Be Yourself", "Your Time Has Come", and "Doesn't Remind Me". Cornell admitted to writing his most personal songs ever on this album, influenced by the positive changes in his life since 2002. He also described the album as more varied than the debut and relying less on heavy guitar riffs. Critics initially described Audioslave as an amalgamation of Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden, but by the band's second album, Out of Exile, noted that they had established a separate identity. The album was received more favorably than Audioslave's debut; critics noted Cornell's stronger vocals, likely the result of quitting smoking and drinking, and pointed out that Out of Exile is "the sound of a band coming into its own." AllMusic praised the album as "lean, hard, strong, and memorable." The lyrics, however, were still a common complaint; musicOMH.com wrote that Cornell's lyrics "continue to border on the ridiculous." On May 6, 2005, Audioslave played a free show in Havana, Cuba. Audioslave became the first American rock group to perform a concert in Cuba, playing in front of an audience of 70,000. The band traveled to Havana on May 4 to interact with Cuban musicians. Cornell commented: "Hopefully, this concert will help to open the musical borders between our two countries." The 26-song set concert was the longest the band had ever played.
In early 2006 the band returned, recording their third album as they had written most of the material during the tour. The band released the album, titled Revelations, in September 2006. Revelations was influenced by 1960s and 1970s funk and R&B music. The first two singles were "Original Fire" and "Revelations". Two of the songs from the third album, "Shape of Things to Come" and "Wide Awake" were also prominently featured in Michael Mann's 2006 film, Miami Vice, prior to the release of the album. Despite the exposure to other forms of media and the positive critical buzz for their third album, Audioslave did not tour behind the release. They went into hiatus to allow Cornell to complete "You Know My Name", the theme song for the 2006 James Bond film, Casino Royale, and Morello to pursue his own solo work under the moniker of The Nightwatchman.
All of Audioslave's lyrics were written by Cornell, whilst all four members were credited with writing the music. Their songwriting process was described by Wilk as "more collaborative" and "satisfying" than Rage Against the Machine's, which was "a battle creatively". Cornell, for his part, saw Soundgarden's songwriting method as inferior to Audioslave's. Cornell's lyrics were mostly apolitical; Audioslave's Morello referred to them as "haunted, existential poetry." They were characterized by his cryptic approach, often dealing with themes of existentialism, love, hedonism, spirituality and Christianity. Cornell's battle with addiction to prescription drugs and alcoholism was a defining factor in the writing and recording process. Even though the singer admitted that he was "never able to write effectively" while drinking, and attended rehab after recording the debut album, Morello stated that Revelations was "the first record [Cornell] didn't smoke, drink or take drugs through the recording." However, Morello said: "Chris was stone sober during the making of our Out of Exile album. Chris was also sober during the making of Revelations and prior to recording he gave up smoking as well. I apologize for any confusion or concern that was stirred up by the original article. Sobriety can be a matter of life or death and Chris' courage in maintaining his health for years has been an inspiration."
News about Cornell's departure emerged in July 2006, when insiders stated that after the third album he would leave to pursue for a solo career. The singer immediately denied the rumors, stating: "We hear rumors that Audioslave is breaking up all the time. ... I always just ignore [them]." On February 15, 2007, Cornell officially announced his departure from Audioslave, stating that "Due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences, I am permanently leaving the band Audioslave. I wish the other three members nothing but the best in all of their future endeavors." As the other three members were busy with the Rage Against the Machine reunion with de la Rocha coming back, and Morello and Cornell had each released solo albums in 2007, Audioslave officially disbanded.
On January 17, 2017, it was announced that Audioslave would reunite for their first show in twelve years at Prophets of Rage's Anti-Inaugural Ball, protesting President Donald Trump's inauguration as President of the United States. The event took place on January 20, 2017.
Asked in February 2017 if there would be more Audioslave reunion shows in the future, frontman Cornell replied, "It's always a possibility. I mean, we've been talking about it for at least three or four years now. We were talking about actually picking dates, and it just ended up not working out because everybody's so busy. They have another band again, they all have separate bands that they do themselves, I have Soundgarden and a solo career that's taking up a lot of time, and I just did Temple of the Dog. So, it's really honestly as simple as we end up having a window of time where it's comfortable for everybody and we want to do it, because I definitely feel like everybody's up for it."
Other musical projects From 1986 to 1987, Cornell was also a member of the satirical Western swing band Center for Disease Control Boys.
Temple of the Dog
Main article: Temple of the Dog "Hunger Strike" was the first single released from Temple of the Dog. The song was written by Cornell and features a duet between Cornell and Eddie Vedder.
While still in Soundgarden, Cornell recorded an album with members of what would become Pearl Jam. This collaboration went under the name Temple of the Dog, and the self-titled album was released in 1991. The album is a tribute to their mutual friend, and Cornell's former roommate, Andrew Wood. Wood, the former lead singer of Mother Love Bone, had died of a heroin overdose the year before. Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard of Mother Love Bone teamed up with Mike McCready, new vocalist Eddie Vedder, and drummer Dave Krusen in 1990, forming Pearl Jam. Cameron would eventually become Pearl Jam's drummer in 1998. Temple of the Dog has gone on to sell more than a million copies, thanks in large part to the singles "Say Hello 2 Heaven" and "Hunger Strike", the latter of which features a duet between Cornell and Vedder. This was the first time Vedder was recorded professionally. During a 2003 Pearl Jam show at the Santa Barbara Bowl, Cornell appeared as a surprise guest. After playing a short acoustic set, Cornell joined Vedder and the rest of the band to perform "Hunger Strike" and "Reach Down". On October 6, 2009, Cornell made a surprise appearance during a Pearl Jam concert at the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles. The reunited Temple of the Dog played "Hunger Strike". At the end of the concert, Cornell took a bow with the band along with Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains.
Main article: Alice Mudgarden Cornell, together with Mark Arm of Mudhoney, contributed vocals on the Alice in Chains song "Right Turn" from the 1992 EP, Sap, although the band given credit for this song is Alice Mudgarden.
M.A.C.C.
In 1992, Cornell and three other former members of Temple of the Dog played under the name M.A.C.C. (McCready, Ament, Cameron, Cornell), recording the song "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)" for the 1993 album, Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix.
Collaborations
Cornell worked as a co-producer and backing vocalist on the Screaming Trees' 1991 album, Uncle Anesthesia. He acted in a cameo role and an onstage performance in Cameron Crowe's 1992 Seattle-based film, Singles. He also contributed his solo song "Seasons", and Soundgarden's song "Birth Ritual", to the Singles soundtrack. Cornell contributed vocals on Alice Cooper's "Stolen Prayer" and "Unholy War" (which he also wrote) from the 1994 album, The Last Temptation. In 1997, Cornell collaborated with Eleven on a rendition of the song, "Ave Maria", for the Christmas compilation album, A Very Special Christmas 3. Cornell has also performed live with the band Linkin Park.
It was incorrectly believed (for many years) that Cornell had written the Eleven song "Someone to Die For" on the 2004 Spider-Man 2 soundtrack, but this was corrected in an interview in April 2007. The song is performed by Jimmy Gnecco of Ours and Brian May of Queen. Cornell had recorded a demo of the song some time earlier, which was released only to members of the Eleven street team.
Cornell co-wrote (with Brian Howes) David Cook's first post-American Idol album single, "Light On", released in 2008. And in 2009, he contributed vocals on the song, "Mister Dirt", from the album, Good.Night.Melody, by Joshua David. Cornell sang one song (which he co-wrote) on Slash, Slash's solo record released in April 2010. The song is called "Promise" and it was premiered at amazon.com on March 26, 2010. He contributed vocals on the song, "Lies", on the 2010 album, Third and Double, by Gabin which was subsequently released as a single in October 2010. Cornell appears on the Carlos Santana album Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time, where he sings on the cover of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love".
In September 2011, he joined members of Pearl Jam for a Temple of the Dog live reunion at the two-day PJ20 Festival at Alpine Valley, Wisconsin.
On January 30, 2015, Cornell joined Mike McCready and Barrett Martin plus Duff McKagan, the Seattle Symphony and others in a special 'Sonic Evolution' concert at Seattle's Benaroya Hall in a tribute to Mad Season. The performance was released as a live album.
Musical style
Cornell's songwriting often features non-standard chord progressions and melodies that do not conform with one diatonic scale. A prominent example is "Black Hole Sun", which not only involves many kinds of open chords and several key changes in short sequences, but also unique melody phrases with large-interval jumps.
A recurrent characteristic is the usage of major-only chord sequences (Sweet Euphoria, Pretty Noose), which also leads to more subtle key changes.
While a most intensive concentration of Cornell's songwriting style can still be found on the Euphoria Morning album, later works, with Audioslave or on the later solo albums, tend to be more conventional, only sometimes containing short but inventive interlude parts (e.g. Like a Stone, Disappearing Act, No Such Thing).
Cornell had a multi-octave range. He was a baritone with an ability to sing extremely high in the tenor range, as well as in the lower register of a baritone voice. He showcased this in various songs, most notably the studio and the demo versions of "Beyond the Wheel", where he can be heard spanning three octaves. He also experimented with various different vocal styles, ranging from light falsetto to brutal screams and chants. In addition to singing rock and metal mainly with Soundgarden and Audioslave, Cornell sang the blues, neo soul and stripped-down acoustic numbers.
Other work Cornell made a cameo in the 1992 film Singles. Cornell was the face of fashion producer John Varvatos' 2006 ad campaign. He became a restaurateur with the opening of his restaurant, Black Calavados, in Paris. He was also the owner of the music publishing company You Make Me Sick I Make Music.
Cornell optioned Phil Carlo's true crime book The Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez, and had planned to turn it into a film, collaborating with Carlo to produce the screenplay.
In 2012, Cornell created the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation. The Foundation is currently developing projects and programs working with leading charitable organizations and partners to raise awareness and mobilize support for children facing tough challenges including homelessness, poverty, abuse and/or neglect. Special meet-and-greet events in aid of the Foundation have taken place at live shows, and in 2013 a proportion of proceeds from ticket sales also went to benefit the cause.
Personal life Cornell was married to Susan Silver, the manager of Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. They had a daughter, Lillian Jean, born in June 2000. He and Silver divorced in 2004. In December 2008, Cornell reported via his official website that he had finally won back his collection of 15 guitars after a four-year court battle with Silver.
He was married to Vicky Karayiannis, a Paris-based American publicist of Greek heritage. The couple had a daughter together, Toni, born in September 2004, and a son, Christopher Nicholas, born in December 2005. Cornell converted to the Greek Orthodox Church through her influence.
When asked how Cornell beat all his addictions he stated, "It was a long period of coming to the realization that this way (sober) is better. Going through rehab, honestly, did help ... it got me away from just the daily drudgery of depression and either trying to not drink or do drugs or doing them and you know, they give you such a simple message that any idiot can get and it's just over and over, but the bottom line is really, and this is the part that is scary for everyone, the individual kinda has to want it ... not kinda, you have to want it and to not do that crap anymore or you will never stop and it will just kill you."
In a 2011 interview, Cornell said the major change with the reformed Soundgarden is a lack of alcohol: "The biggest difference I noticed ... and we haven't even really talked about it: There are no bottles of Jack Daniel's around or beers. And we never talked about ... it's just not there."
Death Late on May 17, 2017, Cornell died suddenly in Detroit after performing at a show with Soundgarden, according to his representative, Brian Bumbery. Footage of the concert surfaced on YouTube the next day. The cause of his death was initially unknown, though Detroit Police confirmed they were investigating Cornell's death as a possible suicide.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cornell
Chris Cornell Musician - Date of Birth 20 July 1964, Seattle, Washington, USA
Date of Death 17 May 2017, Detroit, Michigan, USA
Birth Name Christopher John Boyle
Nickname Frisbee
Height 6' 2" (1.88 m)
Mini Bio (2) Chris Cornell was born Christopher John Boyle in Seattle, Washington on July 20th 1964. Chris is the second youngest of Karen and Ed Boyle's 6 children. His father was a pharmacist and his mother worked as an accountant. He is of Irish (father) and English, Scottish, and Northern Irish (mother) descent, with many of his mother's ancestors coming from Canada. His parents divorced when Chris was in his early teens. After his parents marriage ended, Chris and his siblings changed their surnames from Boyle to his mother's maiden name, Cornell. Chris rebelled against his Catholic upbringing and was on the verge of being expelled from the parochial school he attended when his mother pulled him out. As an adolescent, he experimented with drugs and stealing. Among the things he stole were a collection of Beatles records from his neighbour's basem*nt which sparked an interest in songwriting. Though his parents had given him piano lessons from early on, Chris said his mother saved his life when she bought him a snare drum. A week later he bought himself an entire drum kit and thus began his forage into rock n roll.
Cornell dropped out of school at the age of 15 for two reasons: one was because he had problems with authority, the other was that he wanted to work to help his mother support the family. He waited tables and later on became a cook. He honed his skills as a songwriter and musician by playing in bands on the side. He experienced his first bouts of depression during his teens. His condition became so severe he didn't leave his home for almost a year. Fortunately, he was able to check his use of recreational drugs. He later earned his GED.
He formed Soundgaren with Hiro Yamamoto, Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron in the mid-eighties. Yamamoto left the band was replaced by Ben Shepherd. Soundgarden were the first of the Seattle grunge bands to get signed by a major label during the late 80s and would eventually go on to become on of the most successful bands of the 1990s. He also enjoyed success with several side projects, among them Temple Of The Dog with Eddie Vedder. He married his long-time girlfriend, Alice In Chains manager Susan Silver. Silver, at the request of Cornell's band, had also taken on the management duties of Soundgarden. After achieving multi-platinum status and earning 2 Grammy awards, Soundgarden amicably disbanded in 1997.
Cornell decided to go it alone and released 'Euphoria Morning', a solo album that showed his amazing versatility as a vocalist and songwriter. His songs shocked his grunge fanbase by boldly exploring folk, R&B and melding a variety of genres. 'Euphoria Morning' earned Cornell a Grammy nomination in the catagory of Best Male Rock Performance. However Cornell was dissatisfied with the commercial performance of his solo album and severely disillusioned by the deaths of several close friends. Plagued for many years by social phobias and alcohol abuse, it all came to head and he plunged into a deep depression. Once again he began to use drugs.
In June of 2000. Chris and Susan welcomed their first child, a daughter, Lillian Jean. In a turn of fortune, this was also the year producer Rick Rubin suggested Cornell jam with the remaining members of Zach de la Rocha's abandoned band, Rage Against The Machine. The collaboration was so successful, Cornell along with guitar virtuoso Tom Morello, innovative bassist Tim Commerford and powerhouse drummer Brad Wilk formed Audioslave.
Cornell also checked himself into rehab and rebuilt his life. Now drug and alcohol free, he is fronting the first supergroup of the new millennium. Audioslave dominate the rock charts and have rapidly achieved platinum status despite the soft market for rock music. They've built a reputation as a live act that is second to none. Already halfway through recording their second album, the band are set to head back in to the studio after they wrap up the summer 2003 Lollapalooza tour.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
Chris Cornell is a rock icon who thrives on contradictions. An innovator who resists genre labels, he was nonetheless the chief architect of the 90s grunge movement. Frequently ranked as one of the best voices in music history, he has successfully maintained his own unique identity over more than two decades as a multi-Grammy award winning musician and universally acclaimed singer, songwriter and lyricist.
Seattle trailblazers Soundgarden were a law to themselves, edgy, dark and deeply individual. Their savage soundscapes, coupled with Cornell's incisive lyrics and predatory roar, seduced audiences hungry for musical depth and complexity while leading trends in street fashion and iconic design. In 1989, they became the first Seattle band to sign to a major label. Their sound continued to change and evolve over the course of five pioneering albums.
Celebrated side project Temple of the Dog had already shown Cornell's more soulful side and introduced future Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder to the world. Later, Cornell shocked the business once again with richly melodic, critically acclaimed solo album "Euphoria Morning", swiftly recognized for its alienation and despair. And as the millennium turned, he joined with three other musical pioneers from rap-rock's Rage Against The Machine to create Audioslave - a multi-platinum supergroup which lived to deny its detractors, producing three top-selling albums, touring the world and becoming the first American band to bring rock to Castro's Cuba.
Since then, Cornell has redefined his sound and vision to encompass new music, new collaborations and new activities. Having contributed solo songs to movie soundtracks from "Great Expectations" to "Mission Impossible II", he became the first American male singer to write the theme song for the James Bond franchise in its most successful film to date, "Casino Royale." His bold and bluesy reinvention of Michael Jackson dance classic "Billie Jean" courted controversy and attracted imitators. And his triumphant 2007 world tour brought together songs from every stage of his career, reinterpreting them for new audiences and blending their original fire with the shock of the new.
Outside music, Cornell fronted fashion designer John Varvatos's Spring 2006 collection and settled in Paris with his family, where he has helped revive a historic restaurant, the stylish Black Calavados.
Only the most confident would claim to predict exactly what comes next for Chris Cornell. Always eclectic, always experimental, his new collaboration with super-producer Timbaland - who calls their album "the best work I've done in my career" - will take him into fresh territory, establishing a new sound and marking the creation of a masterpiece that breaks all musical boundaries. Only one thing's for sure - Chris Cornell will continue to break rules, make history and challenge everyone's expectations.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Clare O'Brien
Spouse (2) Vicky Karayiannis (March 2004 - 17 May 2017) (his death) (2 children)
Spouse (2) Susan Silver (20 September 1990 - 2004) (divorced) (1 child)
Trade Mark (2) Goatee -- Raw edged vocals
Trivia (20) Daughter Lilian Jean (b. 28 June 2000) (7 lbs 12 oz).
Lead vocalist, songwriter, guitarist and co-founder of the alt rock band Soundgarden (was originally the drummer before Matt Cameron joined and Cornell switched to vocals).
Wrote "Jesus Christ Pose" as a parody of Jane's Addiction singer / Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell.
Used to be a cook.
November 19th 2002: release of Audioslave's debut album.
Enjoys snowboarding and mountain biking in his leisure.
Wrote the track 'Wave Goodbye' about the death of his friend, musician Jeff Buckley.
Is an avid reader who enjoys books on philosophy and eastern culture. Counts Sylvia Plath among his favourite authors.
Sold over 5 million records with his band Soundgarden. Sold over 300,000 copies of his solo debut, Euphoria Morning, as well as earned a grammy nomination. In 2002 his new band Audioslave sold 2 million copies of their self titled debut.
Vicky gave birth to his second daughter named Toni on the 18th of September, 2004
Owns a rock-themed restaurant in Paris called "Black Calavados".
Lives in Los Angeles.
His father had Irish ancestry. His mother has English, Scottish, and Northern Irish ancestry. Chris's maternal grandfather, Ralph Trivett Cornell, was born in Rothesay, Nova Scotia, Canada, to Julian Trivett Cornell and Emily Keillor Emmerson. Chris's maternal grandmother, Marion M. Macnu*tt, who was born in Washington state, was the daughter of a Canadian-born father, James Frederick Macnu*tt, and a Wisconsin-born mother, Clarabell J. Hubbell.
Dropped out of school at age fifteen.
First American male to perform the opening credits song for a James Bond film (You Know My Name, from Casino Royale (2006)).
Left Audioslave in 2007 due to growing differences between himself and the other band members. The other members of the band went on to reestablish Rage Against the Machine with their former vocalist Zack De La Rocha, while Cornell went back to his solo career.
Will be one of the artists with Audioslave in this year's revival of Lollapalooza, started by Perry Ferrell of Jane's Addiction, a touring festival of music and other exhibits. [July 2003]
New wife Vicky gave birth to his second daughter named Toni on the 18th of September. [September 2004]
Left Audioslave, citing "irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences" as the reason. [February 2007]
Wife Vicky gave birth to their second and his third child, Christopher Nicholas. It's the first son. [December 2005]
Personal Quotes (4)
I'm not a lyric writer to make statements. What I enjoy doing is making paintings with lyrics, creating colorful images. I think that's more what entertainment and music should be.
[on The Promise (2016)] The film and plot are your band mates and the song has to be true to the story and the characters in it. "The Promise", to me, is mainly about paying homage to those we lost in the Armenian Genocide, but it's also about shining a light on more recent atrocities. The same methods used in the Armenian Genocide were used to carry out crimes against humanity in Bosnia, Darfur, Rwanda and right now in Syria on multiple fronts, contributing to a massive global refugee crisis. Unfortunately, the words 'never again' seem like just words when we recall these mass executions of the twentieth century, as well as renewed racism and prejudice around the world. Even in the U.S., the warning signs - isolating groups based on race and religion - are evident. We really need to tell these stories and keep telling them in as many different ways as we can. As humans, we have a tremendous capacity to trudge ahead in our lives and not look at the difficult and challenging moments... but I think it's important. Educating ourselves on the past is the best way to understand the present and avoid future atrocities by understanding and intervening. We must educate and stand as one to combat this fear and violence, and as citizens of the world, work to protect each other's human rights.
[on The Promise (2016)] When people get done watching the film, rather than think, 'Wow, what a horrendous thing that happened a century ago,' realize that it is happening now, realize the film [is] telling a true story and you're seeing how it was created. And the fact that those warning signs are pretty much always the same leading up to a genocide. We have the ability as a global community to pre-empt that, if we're paying attention and we're not allowing our leaders to politicize it and get away with it. It's the goal of everyone in the film that it's representative of the past, but it's also exposing the present.
[on The Promise (2016)] I went to school in the U.S. and I wasn't taught about the Armenian or Greek genocide in history class. I don't know if that's due in part to the denial of it or what it is. It's one of those things where it's a story that needs to be told. And I think it needs to be told and retold. ... We need to at some point as human beings preempt this from happening. Genocide is occurring right now on this planet. It's not something of the past, it's something unfortunately of now, and unfortunately probably will be of the future.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0180225/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
