Chris Cornell, Soundgarden And Audioslave Frontman, Dies At 52

Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell died late Wednesday (May 17), Variety has confirmed. He died in Detroit after performing with his longtime band Soundgarden on May 17. Michael Woody, director of media relations for the Detroit Police, confirmed to Variety that their investigation is leaning toward the possibility of suicide, although he cautioned that it is too early to make a definitive statement. Woody said Cornell’s wife asked a friend to check on the singer, the friend forced opened the door and found Cornell on the bathroom floor. Cornell was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 52.

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”.

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