During the mid-eighties to the very early nineties, a musical movement erupted out of Seattle, Washington, from which many irreplaceable musicians emerged. Kurt Cobain led Nirvana to become one of the most successful rock bands to date. Pearl Jam’s debut album thrusted grunge into the mainstream music scene by becoming the first commercially successful grunge album. Australia even had a crack at it with Silverchair, who are still one of the top grunge bands in 2025. Even with all the competition, one man stood as a pillar of the genre, and became an inspiration to countless musicians, myself included.
Chris Cornell, born in Seattle on the 20th of July 1964, grew up listening to The Beatles and playing guitar in his spare time. Cornell later described himself in his teenage years as a “loner dealing with his anxiety through rock music.” Later, he experienced several mental health issues, dropped out of school, and almost never left his home for about two years. He turned to making music as a way to help his mental health.
Cornell credited his mother for saving his life when she bought him a snare, which he says is what really kicked off his journey into becoming a rock musician.
In the early 1980s, Cornell was part of a cover band called The Shemps. There he met Hiro Yamamoto and later Kim Thayil. After The Shemps broke up, Chris and Hiro began jamming together, eventually joined by Kim and they decided to start a new band.
Soundgarden was formed in 1984 by those three and later joined by Matt Cameron on drums in 1986. On the release of their debut album in 1988, they were nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 1990. In 1989 their first full length album was released, and following its release, Yamamoto left the band and was replaced by Jason Everman, formerly of Nirvana, and joined by Ben Shepher on bass in 1990.
In 1991, Chris Cornell teamed up with Pearl Jam to record Temple of the Dog, a one album project that sparked the life-long friendship between Cornell and Eddie Vedder. The album went on to sell over a million copies, thanks in large part to the two singles, “Say Hello 2 Heaven” and “Hunger Strike”. Also in 1991, Soundgarden released Badmotorfinger, which brought them a new level of commercial success and exposure, with “Rusty Cage” being covered by Johnny Cash in 1996.
In 1994, Soundgarden released their smash hit album Superunknown, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Superunknown is still a staple album of rock and grunge music today, with songs like “Spoonman” and the legendary track “Black Hole Sun, both of which won Grammy Awards, and “Black Hole Sun” won a MTV Video Music Award and a Clio Award. For a time, countless people tried and failed to find the meaning behind the lyrics of “Black Hole Sun”. Some thinking it was a metaphor for grief, but Chris Cornell stated that it had no meaning, and that every single line in the song was just a combination of words he thought sounded cool.
Soundgarden disbanded in 1997 due to internal strife over its creative direction. For a short period after this, Cornell pursued a solo career and earned a Grammy nomination for his song “Can’t Change Me”.
In 2001, legendary metal vocalist Zack De La Rocha left the band Rage Against the Machine, however guitarist Tom Morello, Bassist Tim Commerford, and drummer Brad Wilk still wanted to make music together. Their producer stepped forward and introduced them to Chris Cornell, and Tom Morello later stated that as soon as he spoke into that microphone, their chemistry was instant and irreplaceable. Audioslave released their self-titled debut album in November 2002 which reached triple platinum in the United States. Songs such as “Cochise”, “Show Me How to Live”, and the incredible track “Like a Stone”.
Audioslave continued to release a few more albums until 2007 where Cornell announced his departure from the band due to musical differences and personality conflicts, while the other members became busy with a Rage Against the Machine reunion with Zack De La Rocha coming back.
On January 20th, 2017, Audioslave reunited to perform their first show in twelve years to protest Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States.
On May 18th, 2017, Cornell unfortunately passed away. This news devastated the world. He was given tributes, ceremonies, and memorials worldwide.
Two months after his death, on the day that would have been his 53rd birthday, his close friend Chester Bennington of Linkin Park also passed away. The two had performed together on multiple occasions, and Bennington was the godfather to Cornell’s son, Christopher.
On January 16th, 2019, there was a five-hour concert held to pay tribute to Chris Cornell. Featuring artists such as: Foo Fighters, Metallica, Jack Black, Geezer Butler (formerly of Black Sabbath), Peter Frampton, Miley Cyrus, Jerry Cantrell, as well as members of Soundgarden, Audioslave, and Temple of the Dog. All performing Cornells’s songs.
I was fortunate enough to attend a Pearl Jam concert on the 23rd of November 2024. There, Eddie Vedder performed Hunger Strike for the first time since the passing of Chris Cornell. It was one of, if not the, most significant musical events I will ever experience.
As of the 13th of August 2025, “Like A Stone” has reached almost one billion plays on Spotify, “Black Hole Sun” is just shy of 900 million, and “Hunger Strike” is slightly under 200 million.
Chris Cornell IS one of the greatest and most recognisable voices in music history. One of the best songwriters to ever do it, and his legacy will never be forgotten.
