How Did Chris Cornell Influence Grunge Rock?

[Greg Bernhardt]

Soundgarden was one of my favorite bands growing up. Grudge rock legend!
http://variety.com/2017/music/news/soundgarden-chris-cornell-death-possible-suicide-1202433515/

 

[Blank_Stare]

I was never a BIG fan, but I have enjoyed their music over the years.

It's a shame to see a successful artist die so young.

 

[StatGuy2000]

From what I've read, Chris Cornell had been struggling with clinical depression for years, so perhaps it's not entirely surprising that his death may be a possible case of suicide.

I wasn't too familiar with Soundgarden -- nonetheless, I am saddened to hear of a successful artist dying so young.

 

[krater]

A terrible headline, completely shocking. Chris Cornell was about as far as one could get from the sex-drugs-rock-n-roll end of the spectrum as one is likely to find in modern music. The depth of his emotional swings, however, were felt throughout his songwriting. Upon the first reports that the death was "sudden and unexpected" I had a feeling this wasn't just another musician who OD'd. Rest in peace, godfather of grunge.

*toast*

Knock on wood, Neil Young is still trucking along...

 

[DennisN]

I just heard about it a while ago .

Soundgarden was one of my favorite bands growing up.

Same here. Even though I was not so much into grunge, Soundgarden was one of my favorite bands in the 90's. He wrote/performed some great songs. According to Wikipedia: "Black Hole Sun" was written by frontman Chris Cornell. Cornell said that he wrote the song in about 15 minutes.

Chris Cornell - Black Hole Sun (Acoustic)


Powerful performance from 2:00 and forward IMO:
Black Hole Sun by Chris Cornell of Soundgarden - Live Earth 2007


Some more:

• Soundgarden - Limo Wreck [Live At Guitar Center]

From Wikipedia:
"Audioslave was an American rock supergroup formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2001. The four-piece band consisted of Soundgarden lead singer/rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell, and Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello (lead guitar), Tim Commerford (bass/backing vocals), and Brad Wilk (drums)."

• Audioslave - Cochise
• The Last Remaining Light - Audioslave (Lyrics)

May he rest in peace.

 

[PetSounds]

Knock on wood, Neil Young is still trucking along...

The irony is that Neil seems to fading away, rather than burning out.

 

[OmCheeto]

An acquaintance of mine just shared the following article.

It’s not what you think​

She described it as "incredible". I tend to agree.

 

[DennisN]

A jazzy version of Black Hole Sun by Norah Jones:

While playing a show at the Fox Theatre in Detroit on Tuesday night, singer-songwriter Norah Jones took a moment to a pay a hauntingly beautiful tribute to the late Chris Cornell.


Article: Norah Jones Makes Haunting Tribute To Chris Cornell

 

[DennisN]

I listened to the last studio album by Soundgarden, which I had not heard, King Animal (2016), it got good reviews.
A track from the album, "Taree":

 

[DiracPool]

Chris's passing hits me hard, because he was really an idol of mine. I think that more than others he really captured the spirit of the grunge scene. He was the soft sell, but that spoke loud. In a documentary, he said that Seattle was cool, but it was COLD, and RAINY, and you Californians don't want to move up here! I was a Californian that moved up there. And when I got up there, I knew what he was talking about. The pacific northwest is a beautiful region with it's own sort of organic, non-materialistic culture, sort of the opposite of the southern California vibe I was feeling at the time. I moved up to Seattle in 1997, after a short stop over in Hawaii, and I was a practicing musician at the time. Even by 1997, though, the grunge vibe was dead, there was really nothing left. I played in several bands in many clubs in downtown Seattle and the greater sound area from roughly 1999 to 2006, and it was a pretty prosaic scene. It never really recovered from Curt Cobain's death. Lane Staley from Alice in chains died in 2002, but I never saw him play downtown, and I would have cause I was there.

Chris Cornell was always an inspiration to a rock singer, though. He was to me. Euphoria morning was an inspirational album for me and helped me get through an oxycontin addiction I went through in the early 2000's. I think Chris probably had his own crisis in that capacity. I think half of the Seattle downtown scene was hooked on oxy from, say 2003-2008.

In any case, here are two of my favorite songs from Chris:

 

[cosmik debris]

This Johnny Cash version of Rusty Cage has been playing on the radio here, nice version I think.