by: Kidman J. Williams
Chris Cornell was on tour with Soundgarden when he died suddenly late on Wednesday night. Though the details are not clear yet as to what killed him, police who are investigating are saying a possible suicide, although not confirmed.
According to the AP News, Detroit police spokesman Michael Woody had said that he couldn’t release any details about why the police are looking into this tragedy as a possible suicide, Woody only noted that there were “basic things observed at the scene.”
“His wife, Vicky, and family were shocked to learn of his sudden and unexpected passing, and they will be working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause,” Bumbery said in an email. “They would like to thank his fans for their continuous love and loyalty.”
Woody had also added that a family friend had found him dead on the bathroom floor in his room at the MGM Grand Detroit Hotel.
Cornell and his music meant a lot to many different people over the decades prompting many celebrities and by now plenty of real people from the real world to speak up about their feelings on the news of Cornell’s passing.
Dave Navarro (Jane’s Addiction) tweeted “SO SO stunned to hear about Chris Cornell! Such a terrible and sad loss! Thinking of his family tonight! RIP.”
Billy Idol had said in a tweet, “Sad 2 hear of Chris Cornell passing..great singer and artist…another blow…RIP.”
Even the great Jimmy Page jumped to the Twitter nation, “RIP Chris Cornell. Incredibly Talented. Incredibly Young. Incredibly Missed.”
A Personal Look Back at
Chris Cornell
I heard the news on my clock radio when it went off at 8:30 in the morning. The no personality having DJ from the local station in Tampa came on and broke the news,
“Singer Chris Cornell was found dead in his hotel room in Detroit while on tour with Soundgarden. Cornell was just 52 year old.”
My heart sank and all I wanted to do was go back to sleep at all costs.
Like the majority of the people I wasn’t introduced to Cornell’s music until Temple of the Dog (1991) and of course the Soundgarden album, “Badmotorfinger” (1991). I was all of 12 years old and not even in full swing of my puberty.
I had just been forming my own tastes, likes, dislikes, and acquiring a bad attitude formed by an arrogantly young and narrow view of what I wanted my world to be and what I thought it was. Grunge music was the perfect soundtrack for that blind dismal view of life in the early 90’s.
Back then, we all thought we were being led into some kind of insider information and voices like Cornell’s, Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, Shannon Hoon, and Eddie Vedder were our prophets giving us a peak into the beauty and Hell that was life.
After the majority of the people I listed off were in a tailspin of self-destruction, Cornell kept working, creating, and producing great music, even after the ugly breakup of Soundgarden in 1997.
In 1997, shortly after Soundgarden disbanded he recorded “Ave Maria” with Eleven for a Christmas album, “A Very Special Christmas 3.”
I didn’t hear the track until 1999 while I was working as a telemarketer for a shop at home food service, but when I did, it was like an angel hit me with an encyclopedia spine first. Nothing showed the soul and beauty of Cornell like hearing him sing that song.
Like many others around the world, news of Cornell teaming up with members of Rage Against the Machine to form a supergroup were tantalizing. Audioslave hit the scene with their debut in 2001. I could say that time stood still, but it didn’t. It was like a fast rush through time and you were dancing, crying, and loving through the whole thing.
Cornell’s voice was distinctive despite generic people trying to box him in with the likes of Vedder and Staley and the whole Grunge sound.
There was something Earth shattering and touching about Cornell when he sang. When he sang, it was like he was only singing to you.
The good thing about Cornell, is that he left us no shortage of great music to continue listening to and for future generations to enjoy. You will be missed. Rest in Peace.