Chris Cornell (born Christopher John Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 17, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter and rhythm guitarist for Seattle rock band Soundgarden and as lead vocalist and songwriter for the group Audioslave. He was also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1991, and as founder and frontman for Temple of the Dog, the one-off tribute band dedicated to his late friend Andrew Wood.

Cornell was known for his role as one of the architects of the 1990s grunge movement, for his extensive catalog as a songwriter and for his near four octave vocal range as well as his powerful vocal belting technique. He released four solo studio albums, Euphoria Morning (1999), Carry On (2007), Scream (2009), Higher Truth (2015) and the live album Songbook (2011). Cornell received a Golden Globe Award nomination for his song "The Keeper" which appeared in the film Machine Gun Preacher and co-wrote and performed the theme song to the James Bond film Casino Royale (2006), "You Know My Name". The last solo release prior to his death was the charity single "The Promise", written for the ending credits for the film of the same name. He was voted "Rock's Greatest Singer" by readers of Guitar World, ranked 4th in the list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists" by Hit Parader, 9th in the list of "Best Lead Singers of All Time" by Rolling Stone, and 12th in MTV's "22 Greatest Voices in Music".

Spouses

Susan Silver (m. 1990; div. 2004)
Vicky Karayiannis (m. 2004)

Early life

Cornell was born on July 20, 1964 and raised in Seattle, Washington, and attended Christ the King Catholic elementary school, and Shorewood High School. His parents are Ed Boyle (a pharmacist) and Karen Cornell (an accountant). He has five siblings: older brothers Peter and Patrick, and younger sisters Katy, Suzy, and Maggie. Peter, Katy and Suzy all performed in the band Inflatable Soule in the 1990s. Peter was the lead vocalist for the New York-based rock band Black Market Radio and released a new solo album, Champion, in 2014. Katy performs as lead vocalist for the Seattle band Into the Cold.

Cornell spent a two-year period between the ages of nine and eleven solidly listening to The Beatles after finding a large collection of Beatles records abandoned in the basement of a neighbor's house. Cornell was a loner; however, he was able to deal with his anxiety around other people through rock music. During his teenage years, Chris spiralled into severe depression, dropped out of school and almost never left the house during his state of depression. Before becoming a successful musician, he worked at a seafood wholesaler and was a sous-chef at a restaurant named Ray's Boathouse.

In the early 1980s, Cornell was a member of a cover band called The Shemps that performed around Seattle. The Shemps also featured bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Following Yamamoto's departure from The Shemps, the band recruited guitarist Kim Thayil as its new guitarist. Cornell and Yamamoto stayed in contact, and after The Shemps broke up, Cornell and Yamamoto started jamming together, eventually bringing in Thayil to join them.

Personal life

Cornell was first married to Susan Silver, the manager of Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. They had a daughter, Lillian Jean, born in June 2000. He and Silver divorced in 2004. In December 2008, Cornell reported via his official website that he had finally won back his collection of 15 guitars after a four-year court battle with Silver.

His second marriage was to Vicky Karayiannis, a Paris-based American publicist of Greek heritage. The couple had a daughter together, Toni, born in September 2004, and a son, Christopher Nicholas, born in December 2005. Cornell converted to the Greek Orthodox Church through her influence.

When asked how Cornell beat all his addictions he stated, "It was a long period of coming to the realization that this way (sober) is better. Going through rehab, honestly, did help ... it got me away from just the daily drudgery of depression and either trying to not drink or do drugs or doing them and you know, they give you such a simple message that any idiot can get and it's just over and over, but the bottom line is really, and this is the part that is scary for everyone, the individual kinda has to want it ... not kinda, you have to want it and to not do that crap anymore or you will never stop and it will just kill you."

In a 2011 interview, Cornell said the major change with the reformed Soundgarden is a lack of alcohol: "The biggest difference I noticed ... and we haven't even really talked about it: There are no bottles of Jack Daniel's around or beers. And we never talked about ... it's just not there."

Death

On May 17, 2017, Cornell died in Detroit after performing at a show with Soundgarden. Footage of the concert surfaced on YouTube the next day. Cornell committed suicide by hanging himself in his hotel room.