Chris Cornell

Chris Cornell
Cornell in 2011
Born	Christopher John Boyle (1964-07-20)July 20, 1964 Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Died	May 18, 2017(2017-05-18) (aged 52) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Cause of death	Suicide by hanging
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Occupations	Singer musician songwriter
Years active	1983–2017
Spouses	Susan Silver ​ ​ (m. 1990; div. 2004)​ Vicky Karayiannis ​ ​ (m. 2004)​
Children	3
Relatives	Peter Cornell (brother)
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Genres	Alternative metal heavy metal grunge alternative rock[1] hard rock
Instrument(s)	Vocals guitar drums (early)
Labels	SST Sub Pop A&M Epic Suretone Interscope Mosley
Formerly of	Soundgarden Audioslave Temple of the Dog Center for Disease Control Boys
Website	chriscornell.com
Musical artist
Signature

Christopher John Cornell (né Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American musician. He was best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and the primary lyricist for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave. He also had a solo career and contributed to numerous movie soundtracks. Cornell was the founder and frontman of Temple of the Dog, a one-off tribute band dedicated to his late friend, musician Andrew Wood. Several music journalists, fan polls and fellow musicians have regarded Cornell as one of the greatest rock singers.^[2][3]

Cornell is considered a key figure of the 1990s grunge movement with an extensive songwriting history, a nearly four-octave vocal range^[4] and a powerful vocal belting technique. Cornell released four solo studio albums, Euphoria Morning (1999), Carry On (2007), Scream (2009), and Higher Truth (2015); the live album Songbook (2011); and two compilations, The Roads We Choose (2007) and Chris Cornell (2018), the latter released posthumously. He received a Golden Globe Award nomination for his song "The Keeper", which appeared in the 2011 film Machine Gun Preacher, and co-wrote and performed "You Know My Name", the theme song to the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale. His last solo release before his death was the charity single "The Promise", written for the ending credits for the 2016 film of the same name.

Cornell sold 14.8 million albums, 8.8 million digital songs, and 300 million on-demand audio streams in the U.S. alone,^[5][6] as well as over 30 million records worldwide.^[7][8][9] Nominated for 18 Grammy Awards, he won three.^[10][11] Cornell was ranked No. 4 on the list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists" by Hit Parader,^[12] No. 9 on the list of "Best Lead Singers of All Time" by Rolling Stone,^[13] No. 80 on the list of the "200 Greatest Singers of All Time" by Rolling Stone,^[14] and No. 12 on MTV's "22 Greatest Voices in Music".^[15] He was voted "Rock's Greatest Singer" by readers of Guitar World.^[16]

Cornell struggled with depression for most of his life. He was found dead in his Detroit hotel room in the early hours of May 18, 2017, after performing at a Soundgarden concert an hour earlier at the Fox Theatre. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging.^[5]