Rocker Chris Cornell has died aged 52, just hours after performing a sold out Soundgarden gig at the FOX theatre in Detroit on Wednesday night.
09:00 EDT, 18 May 2017
Police are reported to be investigating whether the death may have been suicide.
- Chris was reportedly ‘found dead on the bathroom floor of his hotel room in the MGM Grand Detroit by a friend’
- The singer tweeted eight hours before the news of his death broke
- Soundgarden split in 1997 and reunited in 2010, their last record was King Animal in 2012
- During their 13-year hiatus, Cornell was admitted to rehab for alcohol addiction
- He was married to Vicky Karayiannis for 13 years and they were parents to Toni, 12 and Christopher, 11
- Cornell was previously wed to Soundgarden manager, Susan Silver, with whom they share daughter Lillian Jean, 17
- He famously sang the song, You Know My Name, for James Bond’s Casino Royale
- The rocker was part of the same Seattle grunge rock music scene as Kurt Cobain
Chris’s wife called a family friend and asked them to check on him, according to channel 4 WDIV Detroit.
Cornell’s representative, Brian Bumbery, called Chris’s passing ‘sudden and unexpected’ and said his wife and family were shocked by it.
The statement said the family would be working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause and asked for privacy.
According to the site, Chris was staying at the MGM Grand in Detroit, when he passed away.
The news comes just eight hours after he posted his last message on Twitter, which read:
Chris, who famously sang the song, You Know My Name, for James Bond movie Casino Royale, was married to Vicky Karayiannis for 13 years, and they are parents to Toni, 12 and Christopher, 11.
Sharing: Fans of the rocker took to social media to post pictures of the gig, without a sense that anything was wrong
His love: Audioslave band mates (L-R) Tom Morello, Brad Wilk, Chris and Tim Commerford posed for a photo backstage after performing at Teragram Ballroom during the Anti-Inaugural Ball on January 20, 2017 in Los Angeles
The Grammy award-winning, Golden Globe nominated singer also started the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation to support children facing poverty and abuse.
He told Details magazine in 2012: ‘When I met my wife Vicky’s family, I had to go out of my way to convince them – to show them – that I wasn’t anything like their idea of a musician.’
As for letting his own children date a rock star, Chris told Details: ‘I’ve met many, many musicians that I wouldn’t let anywhere near my daughter. Or my son.’
Cornell was previously married to Susan Silver, with which he fathered daughter Lillian Jean, 17.
Susan was manager of both Alice In Chains and Soundgarden – but they divorced shortly before he married Vicky.
His love: Chris, who famously sang the song, You Know My Name, for James Bond movie Casino Royale, was married to wife of 13 years, Vicky Karayiannis (pictured in April 2012)
The family also all attended the New York screening of The Promise at the Paris Theatre on April 18 this year.
Sweet: Chris shared this picture on Twitter just four days ago as he posted a sweet mother’s day message to his wife Vicky
Touc
hing: He also posted a poignant message to his own mother on the day
He was part of the same Seattle grunge rock music scene as Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, and in 2015, footage emerged of Cobain doing an impression of him.
He told Shaun Keaveny during an interview with BBC Radio 6 in 2012 that having the Nirvana and Pearl Jam as friends when Soundgarden were making it big really helped him.
He said: ‘It was an exciting time. We had people we could talk to about this insane experience. It was happening to a few of us. People we had known for a long time.
‘It was all new to us. We didn’t know what to make of it. It helped to have some friends going through the same craziness.’
Ironic: Chris was part of the same Seattle grunge rock music scene as Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, and in 2015, footage emerged of Cobain doing an impression of him.
Upsetting: Social media was flooded with posts from devastated fans soon after the sad news
He continued: ‘We didn’t have anything close to overnight success but it was still crazy. It was very comic book like. Surreal.
‘It seemed to come out of nowhere and was not something we could have expected.’
Social media was flooded with posts from devastated fans soon after the sad news.
Posts read: ‘Truly saddened to hear of the death of @Chris Cornell, beautiful man, beautiful voice, outstanding music RIP #chriscornell #rip #legend.’
‘Actually gutted hearing about Chris Cornell passing. Soundgarden records shaped so much of my youth. This is s***.’
Tragedy: A statement said the family would be working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause and asked for privacy
‘Shocked to hear about Chris Cornell. Way too young.’
‘Gutted to hear about Chris Cornell dying. 1 of the finest ever hard rock voices and great albums with #soundgarden #rip.’
‘RIP Chris Cornell. Only recently got into Soundgarden – great voice, powerful music. Sad loss.’
Good friends: Chris shared this picture of himself with Sting and Brad Pitt following the Rock4EB concert in January
‘Really sad to hear the news about Chris Cornell. Another one gone to soon.’
Meanwhile, Cornell faced his own share of personal demons before becoming a clean-living family man.
He said: ‘When I transitioned into adulthood – high-stakes emotional responsibilities – I did everything I could get my hands on. It happened without me really noticing it,’ he confessed.
‘The thing is, when you pick up the pipe for the first time, you don’t know that that’s your fate. The moment isn’t that dramatic. And then that was it – I didn’t want to care anymore.’
When Soundgarden reformed, he said the only real change was the lack of booze on the tour bus after he went tee-total.
He said: ‘The biggest difference I noticed… and we haven’t even really talked about it: There are no bottles of Jack Daniels around or beers. And we never talked about.. it’s just not there.’
Doing what he did best: Chris performing on stage at FOX theatre on May 3 in Atlanta, Georgia
Performer: He was also pictured performing during the Prophets Of Rage And Friends’ Anti-Inaugural Ball at Teragram Ballroom on January 20, 2017 in LA
The band – also comprised of Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd – were due to continue their North American tour and travel to Columbus, Ohio on Friday, with the run ending in Oklahoma on May 27.
During their 13-year hiatus, Cornell went through a dark period and was admitted to rehab for alcohol addiction.
In 2012, Chris spoke about his struggle with addiction, saying at the time: ‘It’s something that would have happened even if Soundgarden had stayed together.
‘It was a long slow slide and then a long slow recovery, but there was self-discovery too.
‘For me it was mostly alcohol – from my late teens until my late thirties.’
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In 2012: Chris spoke about his struggle with addiction following Soundgarden’s split in 1997, saying: ‘It’s something that would have happened even if Soundgarden had stayed together’
At his last performance in Detroit, Chris added these words into the song Slaves And Bulldozers during his final song:
‘In my time of dying, I want nobody to mourn. All I want for you to do is take my body home. Well, well, well, so I can die easy.’
Source: Google research and Daily Mail Online
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