According to his representative, rocker Chris Cornell, who gained fame as the lead singer of Soundgarden and later Audioslave, has died at age 52.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Brian Bumbery says Cornell died Wednesday night in Detroit.
Bumbery called the death “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.
His ex-wife used to manage Alice in Chains. Out of Seattle’s big four, Eddie Vedder’s the last grunge frontman. R.I.P. Chris Cornell, Kurt Cobain, and Layne Staley.
My gf’s pretty broken up. As she puts it, thanks to her godless heathen Gen Xer parents, she knew Chris Cornell’s name before Jesus’s, and the worship level was probably similar.
I’m in a meeting but I plan on doing the same afterward. Seriously, Soundgarden got me through some really tough times in life. I’m very depressed about this news.
From another godless heathen Gen X’er parent to hers I say “Great job!”. Chris Cornell was a voice of a generation. He had amazing talent and a knack for writing songs and hitting notes that spoke directly to your soul. I always thought it would be difficult to top Soundgarden, and yet Audioslave was every bit as good, and in some ways even better.
My sincere and heartfelt condolences go out to Cornell’s family (especially his young children), friends and my fellow fans. He will be greatly missed, the world is a darker place today.
As is becoming usual for these days, my local Seattle nonprofit independent radio station, KEXP, is doing an all-day tribute to the man.
Fun fact: they had to interrupt the usual My 18 tribute to Ian Curtis, the frontman for Joy Division who killed himself on this day in 1980 (also the same day Mt. St. Helens erupted).