On May 26, 2017, beloved grunge vocalist Chris Cornell was laid to rest at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The Soundgarden frontman died by suicide on May 18, at age 52, and was cremated three days before the memorial service in Los Angeles.
Cornell’s ashes were interred in the Garden of Legends, where he rests next to Johnny Ramone. The service was predictably star-studded, as Cornell’s famous friends and celebrity acquaintances joined his wife, Vicky, and three children to say goodbye. Fans also swarmed the cemetery that day for a chance to pay their respects. They were allowed to visit his final resting place after the memorial.
Soundgarden bandmates Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron gave eulogies. Tom Morello, who formed Audioslave with Cornell, and Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament, who was in Temple of the Dog, also addressed mourners. Additionally, actor Josh Brolin, who had a close friendship with Cornell in the seven years before his death, delivered a eulogy.
Chris Cornell’s Memorial Service Featured Heartbreaking Tribute From Chester Bennington
Actors Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Fred Armisen, and James Franco were also in attendance. Fellow musicians in attendance included Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins, Dave Navarro, Courtney Love, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, Gavin Rossdale, Pharrell Williams, and Joe Walsh.
Chester Bennington of Linkin Park was also in attendance. He gave a heartbreaking acoustic tribute of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, but performed Jeff Buckley’s 1994 arrangement.
Bennington and Cornell shared a deep friendship and even performed together occasionally. Two months later, Bennington would die by suicide on Cornell’s birthday. But Cornell and Jeff Buckley were also close. To the point where, even years after Buckley drowned in 1997, Cornell kept a red phone belonging to Buckley on stage during solo acoustic sets. Allegedly, he once told a crowd that this was his “direct line to Jeff.”
Two days prior to the memorial, Cornell’s widow, Vicky Karayiannis, had an open letter published in Billboard. “We had the time of our lives in the last decade, and I’m sorry, my sweet love, that I did not see what happened to you that night,” she wrote in part. “I’m sorry you were alone, and I know that was not you, my sweet Christopher. Your children know that too, so you can rest in peace.”
On Chris Cornell’s website, there remains a section of tributes to the iconic musician. Many were posted right after his death, including one from Chester Bennington.
“You have inspired me in many ways you could never have known,” he wrote at the time. “Your talent was pure and unrivaled. Your voice was joy and pain, anger and forgiveness, love and heartache all wrapped up into one. I suppose that’s what we all are. You helped me understand that.”
The post On This Day in 2017, Family, Friends, and Rock Royalty Gathered To Say Goodbye to ‘The Godfather of Grunge’ appeared first on VICE.
