Chris Cornell began his music career in the mid-'80s with the iconic group Soundgarden.
The band was one of the pioneers in the grunge scene in Seattle, and over the years, he also
collaborated with a number of other legendary musicians.
He released his first solo album, Euphoria Morning, in 1999.
Cornell's interest in music started at an early age, and he got his first drum kit when
he was 15 years old.
According to the musician, his mother only bought him a snare drum, and he purchased
the rest of the drumkit soon after.
In an interview with Louder Sound, he remembered:
"My mom was ecstatic because it was the first thing I'd done on my own which wasn't illegal
or troublesome."
Cornell eventually dropped out of school to pursue a music career, and he worked as a
docker and waiter to support himself while performing small gigs at night.
Soundgarden was formed in 1984, and as Chris Cornell recalled, the band was not an instant
hit.
He told Louder Sound:
"People hated us in the beginning.
I'd come on stage with no shirt on, whipping my hair around and generally being a sweaty
rock guy."
The band released the demo 6 Songs for Bruce in 1985, and three years later, the studio
album Ultramega OK debuted.
Soundgarden was well known in the Seattle grunge scene by then, but it wasn't until
their 1994 album, Superunknown, that they gained worldwide fame.
The third single from Superunknown, "Black Hole Sun," has since become one of the band's
most popular songs.
It spent seven weeks at the No. 1 position on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart
and reached Top 10 positions in different countries as well.
Cornell wrote "Black Hole Sun" in his basement, and initially, the band had doubts about whether
or not it was even "a Soundgarden song."
It was certainly different from the tracks they had previously released, but eventually,
the band decided to go with it.
In 1995, Soundgarden took home a Grammy award for Best Hard Rock Performance for their work
on the song.
In 2017, the band embarked on a U.S. tour after a lengthy hiatus.
They had just performed a show at the Fox Theater in Detroit, Michigan — little did
they know, however, that it would be their last performance with Cornell.
Shortly after the concert, the singer headed back to his room at the MGM Grand Detroit
hotel and called his wife, Vicky.
She asked Cornell what he took after noticing that he was slurring, to which he answered,
"an extra Ativan or two."
Later that night, Vicky asked Cornell's bodyguard, Martin Kirsten, to check on her husband.
Kirsten headed to Cornell's room and found the door locked.
He kicked it open and discovered an unresponsive Cornell inside the bathroom.
"And then… we, um…
I mean, that was, that was it."
Cornell was pronounced dead at 1:30 a.m. on May 18, 2017.
He was 52 years old.
News of his death quickly spread, and fans were devastated.
Tributes on social media quickly poured, and his wife, Vicky, said:
"Chris's death is a loss that escapes words and has created an emptiness in my heart that
will never be filled."
Cornell's brother Peter also penned a tribute on Facebook, calling the late singer an icon
and a legend.
He wrote:
"Artists, actors, musicians.
We rely on these people to lift us up.
To inspire us and distract us in times of trouble.
Chris protected us when we needed him to.
His one of a kind-ness surrounded us like a suit of armor.
He was a warrior and a wizard.
A howling wolf and a trusted mentor."
Cornell's friends from the music industry also mourned his death.
Elton John called him the "loveliest man," Jimmy Page said that he was "incredibly talented,"
and Tony Iommi said that Cornell was one of his favorite singers.
A private memorial service that was attended by friends and family was held at the Hollywood
Forever Cemetery, and his gravesite was opened for public viewing afterward.
Hundreds of fans flocked to the cemetery to pay their final respects to Cornell.
According to the autopsy report, Chris Cornell's official manner of death was suicide.
Toxicology tests were also done, and the results revealed that he had drugs in his system,
including naloxone, butalbital, lorazepam, norpseudoephedrine, caffeine, and pseudoephedrine.
However, the medical examiner noted that the ingestion of said drugs did not contribute
to his death.
Cornell's wife, Vicky, has stated that her husband struggled with drug addiction and
was on prescription medication at the time of his death.
She believes that the musician wasn't in his right state of mind when he killed himself.
In a later interview, she said:
"My husband was the furthest thing from a rock star junkie.
He just wasn't."
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.