All My Heroes Are Dead: Chris Cornell

My earliest memory of Chris Cornell comes from a poster in my high school friend Rob’s bedroom. It isn’t of Cornell or even the band he was in at the time, Soundgarden. It’s simply the cover of their mainstream breakthrough album Badmotorfinger. It looked something like this:

I remember being intimidated by it. The circular saw-like design, the aggressive feel of it. And then I listened to the album. The first thing I think anyone notices about Soundgarden’s music is Cornell’s voice. It’s soaring, powerful, and cuts through your ears like a knife. In another era, he would have been a great vocalist for an 80s metal band. Instead, with Soundgarden, it was layered over a mix of thundering drums and thick, grungy guitars. It’s a marriage that on paper, shouldn’t work. And yet… well, listen for yourself:

Their videos were dark and weird, the perfect complement to the music. Being that it was the 90s, music videos were the main way we consumed music, outside of radio. I remember spending summers sitting in the basement with the VCR ready to record whenever one of our favorite songs came on. We had a bunch of tapes with videos we recorded off TV. Soundgarden was on a few of them.

Their biggest hit came from the album that followed Badmotorfinger, Superunknown. The song was called “Black Hole Sun”. Now, the song itself is pretty great. The lyrics are almost total nonsense and Cornell himself has said that they don’t mean anything. But what really made “Black Hole Sun” a monster hit was the insane, psychedelic video that the band put out for it, the third single released from the album. It disturbed me, and nearly traumatized a generation of youths. If it’s been a while since you last watched it, yes, it is exactly as weird as you remember it.

There were a few other hits off that album, which has sold nearly 10 million copies and is the band’s biggest record. The music on Superunknown took a step forward from their previous releases. They slowed the songs down a little bit, inspired by producer Michael Beinhorn’s suggestion to Cornell that he stop trying to write loud, aggressive music and focus on what inspired him; namely bands like Cream and the Beatles. The end result catapulted them to stardom.

As grunge music grew in popularity in the early 90s and these longhaired rockers who wore ripped jeans and flannel shirts became the next generation of rock stars, their lesser-known accomplishments began to gain attention. For Cornell, this came in the form of Temple of the Dog. Formed in 1990, a year before Badmotorfinger came out, it was a supergroup that consisted of members from Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. The impetus for creating TotD was the overdose death of Andrew Wood, Cornell’s close friend and roommate.

Many of the songs on that album are explicitly about Andrew Wood and reflect upon life and death. The most well-known song from that collaboration featured an unknown vocalist from San Diego, who just happened to be hanging out in the rehearsal space while Cornell was working on the vocals. His contributions led to the song being rewritten as a duet and is one of my favorite songs of all time. The vocalist was Eddie Vedder and he’d only been in town for four days.

Soundgarden would release one more album, Down on the Upside, in 1996 before disbanding two years later. It was a moderate success and built upon the sonic changes the band established with Superunknown. Cornell’s vocals and ever-growing songwriting abilities really came to the foreground on this album, though among fans it is probably their least favorite record.

Cornell embarked on a solo career with mixed results. While some of the music he produced during this time was critically acclaimed, he never sold anywhere close to what he experienced in Soundgarden. It led to some interesting experiments, including a collaboration with hip-hop/pop producer Timbaland. I was never a huge fan of his solo stuff but here’s a taste of it:

Soooo… yeah.

During this time (2001-ish), producer Rick Rubin suggested to the recently disbanded members of Rage Against the Machine to consider giving Cornell a shot at being their new singer. The partnership was a success and the newly christened band, Audioslave, wrote 21 songs within 19 days of working together. I remember I was a sophomore in college when the debut single, “Cochise”, from the new supergroup was released. I was in the gym working out when MTV debuted it. I actually stopped mid-exercise to watch the video. I was blown away. It was another blending of two disparate sounds (the hardcore, riff-heavy sound of Rage Against the Machine and Cornell’s screaming vocals) that shouldn’t have worked but did. I ran back to my dorm to download the song ASAP.

Audioslave had a lot of success, both critically and financially. They sold millions of albums and the band resurrected Cornell’s fledgling career. Initially, they refused to play songs from their previous bands. But as Audioslave developed their own reputation, they started to incorporate more of their back catalog into live performances. There would be two more albums after their debut before the band broke up in 2007.

Cornell resumed his solo career for a few years before getting back together with a reunited Soundgarden. Their first release was a reworking of a song from a decade before called “Black Rain”. It was released on a massive retrospective compilation called Telephantasm. It features Cornell’s vocals and guitarist Kim Thayil’s sound-bending riffs. It was a welcome return for a band that many people felt folded before their time.

This led to a full-fledged new album in 2012 called King Animal, which is pretty good! Sadly, it would be their last. During a tour in 2017, Chris Cornell took his life. The details of his death are clear: he hung himself with an exercise band while in his hotel room. Most of the people who knew him were shocked by it. His wife had just spoken to him on the phone and was concerned about his mental health. So much so, she asked his bodyguard to go into his room and check on him. It was too late.

In the years since, his estate has sued the doctor who prescribed him medications for his mental health. His loss was felt across the music industry. Several tribute concerts were performed. It even delayed the release of a new Pearl Jam album as its members, who’d been his friend and bandmate in the past, struggled to deal with it. He was only 52 years old and left behind three children.

Another one gone.

It was shocking to hear about. By this time, 2017, I felt like all the people who had survived the 90s would remain alive. We lost so many people to drugs and suicide. By all accounts, Cornell had been sober for years at the time of his death. He was having success. He was happily married. He had so much to live for. His death was a gut punch. His beautiful voice would never be heard again.

What are we to make of it?

Mental health is serious business. Suicide isn’t about drama or tragedy. It can come on as sudden as a broken arm. Whatever he was thinking that night was not something healthy. Is it possible that the drugs he was taking to help him led to his death? Definitely. I can speak from experience that when a person starts changing their brain chemistry, it can lead to terrible consequences. All you have to understand the world around you is your brain. Change how it perceives things and all bets are off.

Much like the overdose deaths that many of his friends and colleagues suffered, Chris Cornell’s death was a lesson. It showed that even someone with everything to live for can be susceptible to mental health challenges. Suicide claims nearly 50,000 people every year. Please take it seriously.

Chris Cornell will be remembered as one of the greatest rock vocalists of all time. His varied career leaves us with a trove of beautiful songs, emotional lyrics, and powerful works of art. While his life has stopped, his legacy will continue. What is dead cannot die and he lives on through his music.

If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, call the Suicide Prevention Line: 1-800-273-8255