On July 20, 1964, the world was introduced to Chris Cornell, an iconic voice of the grunge music generation. Sadly, the Soundgarden singer passed away in 2017, but would have been celebrating his 62nd birthday today.
Chris Cornell was born in Seattle, Washington, in the mid-60s. He discovered a love for music at an early age, and quickly gravitated to performing. In the early 80s, he became friends with bassist Hiro Yamamoto and guitarist Kim Thayil. This set the stage for their legendary grunge rock band.
Officially formed in 1984, Soundgarden went on to become not just one of the biggest grunge bands of the 90s, but one of the biggest rock bands of all time. The band released five albums before splitting up in 1997.
Chris Cornell released 5 solo albums, in addition to his work with Soundgarden and Audioslave
After the members of Soundgarden went their separate ways, Cornell started a solo career and released his debut album, Euphoria Morning (1999). He maintained his solo work throughout his career, releasing four studio albums before his death.
A few years after Soundgarden’s breakup, Cornell launched a new band: Audioslave. The supergroup was a collaboration with Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk; 3/4 of Rage Against the Machine, after they split with frontman Zack de la Rocha.
Audioslave released three albums before disbanding in 2007. This became a catalyst for Soundgarden to reunite in 2010, surprising and elating grunge fans everywhere. In 2012, Soundgarden released their final album, King Animal, amid a resurgence in touring.
Sadly, on May 18, 2017, Cornell passed away. His cause of death was officially ruled a suicide by hanging. Years later, in 2021, his family settled a lawsuit against Cornell’s doctor, whom they accused of prescribing the singer medication that had a detrimental impact on his state of mind.
Soundgarden members have indicated that there may be an unfinished final album with Cornell on the way
Following his death, Cornell’s estate released his final collection of solo material, No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1 (2020). Some years later, in 2025, Soundgarden was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Notably, while Cornell has been gone for almost a decade, there is a strong chance that we have not heard the last of his work with Soundgarden. In a 2025 social media post, Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd alluded to the notion that they have been sitting on previously recorded material featuring Cornell’s vocals.
In the post, Shepherd explained that he had one of the unreleased tracks stuck in his head. “Its a song Chris and Matt wrote ‘The Road Less Traveled’ for our album that has yet to be named,” he said. “Just hearing Chris’ voice helps, I know he did that for everyone he knew.”
At this time, there is no word on when the unreleased Soundgarden album may surface.
Photo by Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images
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