Chris Cornell 1964 - 2017

Woke up this morning to the news that Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell died in his hotel room last night. It has been determined that he died of an 'apparent suicide.' He was in Detroit on tour with Soundgarden and performed his last show hours before his death.

Cornell was given the gift of a strong and powerful, yet beautiful and delicate voice. He has one of the most underrated voices in all of rock. In addition to playing with Soundgarden, he spent time with Temple of the Dog, Audioslave, and his solo projects. Over the course of his career, he also wrote songs for a number of movie soundtracks, "Seasons" for the grunge film Singles, "You Know My Name" for the James Bond flick Casino Royale, "Misery Chain" for 12 Years a Slave, and most recently "The Promise" for an upcoming movie by the same name.

Although I didn't know him personally, I can't get myself to believe that he would commit suicide intentionally. From the outside, it looked like he had a lot going for him. Soundgarden was on tour and recording a new album, he just came off the first tour with Temple of the Dog, and there is a movie coming out with one of his songs. Not to speculate, Cornell has had struggles with depression, drug addiction, and inner demons. Before becoming a part of Soundgarden, Cornell's friend and roommate Andrew Wood, who was a member of the up and coming Seattle band Mother Love Bone, died of a heroin overdose in March 1990. Cornell and members of what would become Pearl Jam formed Temple of the Dog, releasing only one album as a tribute to Wood. As mentioned earlier, Soundgarden played a show hours before his death. It is interesting to note that they finished their set with "Slaves and Bulldozers" with a refrain of Led Zeppelin's "In My Time of Dying," which heavily references death.

Cornell loved performing but loved his fans even more. I have seen him perform multiple times, twice solo, in 2013 and 2015, and twice with Temple of the Dog, November 4 and 5 in 2016. I remember the first time I saw him in concert. After performing a moving song, fans in the front rows stood up to shake his hand. Instead of Cornell thanking them from the stage, he walked to the edge of the front of the stage to shake the hand of each audience member. Later, during the same show, he took a poster from a fan, signed it, and gave it back, all to a standing ovation.

It is amazing what one man was able to accomplish through music. There are very few musicians who have such charisma. Affection can be seen not only from his fans but for his fans. He meant a lot to so many people, something that words can't describe and only his music can.

UPDATE:
Read the article from The Detroit News for further details on the passing of Cornell.