Famous Musicians Who Have A Lot To Say About Chris Cornell

Emerging on the heels of Nirvana's breakout success and grunge's arrival as the dominant sub-genre of rock in the early '90s, Soundgarden stood out for many reasons, not the least of these being Chris Cornell's exceptional vocal range and charisma as the band's lead singer. When he sang, he mesmerized listeners, and it didn't matter whether he was doing so with his main band or as a solo performer — or with the supergroups Temple of the Dog and Audioslave. But tragically, the talented and often mysterious singer was found dead in his hotel room on the early morning of May 18, 2017, just hours after Soundgarden had wrapped up their concert at the Fox Theatre in Detroit. He was just 52 years old.

In the years since Cornell's death, many well-known musicians have spoken about the frontman, opening up about their time working together, how he was as a person, and how his death affected his friends, bandmates, loved ones, and fans. Here are some of the musicians who have had a lot to say about the late Chris Cornell, starting with the three other individuals who made up the classic lineup of Soundgarden.

Matt Cameron is one of the few musicians who can say they've been part of two bands in grunge's "big four." The Soundgarden and Pearl Jam drummer is also a four-decade-plus veteran of the Seattle rock scene, and that's given him some vivid memories of working with Chris Cornell during the former band's early years.

In an interview collated by Loudwire, Cameron talked about how Cornell evolved as a performer from his earliest days, when he barely interacted with audiences. "The way that he would perform back then, he sort of went into this trance. When I would watch those guys before I joined, I was just really mesmerized by the way Chris would just sort of like turn into this Shaman-kind of dude ... Eventually he became more comfortable with an audience, and I think he was naturally a really shy person, believe it or not."

That wasn't Cameron's only interesting anecdote about Cornell's pre-fame years. In the liner notes to Cornell's self-titled, posthumously released 2018 compilation album (via Alternative Nation), Cameron also remembered how blown away he was when the frontman was recording vocals for Soundgarden's "Ugly Truth," from the 1989 album "Louder Than Love." "The rough recording encompassed a musical universe so vast and pure, I couldn't believe my ears. I listened to it over and over, pinching myself wondering if I was in a dream or if I was finally in the band of my dreams," the drummer wrote. "Luckily for me, it wasn't a dream."

Out of all his bandmates, Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil probably has the most to say about Chris Cornell's evolution as a musician. Speaking to Kerrang in 2021, Thayil noted that Cornell originally pulled double duty on drums and vocals, and while he was unquestionably skilled at both, his bandmates felt it might be better to hire a dedicated frontman. "We were writing songs in odd time signatures, so it became tougher for Chris to sing and play drums at the same time," Thayil said. "[Original Soundgarden bassist Hiro Yamamoto] and I decided we needed a singer ... we thought [Chris] was a bit conventional in his approach, but as a drummer and a songwriter, he was much more inventive."

Ultimately, Cornell's desire to make his mark as a lead singer won over, and he would move to the front of the stage while remaining Soundgarden's chief songwriter. As Thayil recalled in a separate interview (via Ultimate Guitar), Cornell was initially self-conscious in this latter role, but Mother Love Bone's late frontman, Andrew Wood, inspired him to become more productive and confident when writing songs. "[Wood's death in 1990] motivated Chris, in two ways," the guitarist said. "One was to talk to me about [asking] Ben [Shepherd, bassist] to join the band because he's from the same neighborhood as Andy ... The second thing was that Chris became really prolific."

With Soundgarden inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025, Thayil also told Billboard that it was thanks to Cornell that the band learned to appreciate the importance of such an honor. "He's the one who convinced me how appreciative the fans and our peers and the Soundgarden community — that includes the people that we work with and work for us — would be about it," he explained.

Compared to Matt Cameron and Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd hasn't revealed too many stories about his time making music with Chris Cornell in Soundgarden. But on the eighth anniversary of the singer's death in May 2025, the bassist took to the band's Instagram to pen a touching tribute to one of rock's greatest vocalists.

In his post, Shepherd mentioned a song that Cornell and Cameron wrote called "The Road Less Traveled," teasing its inclusion in an album they've yet to release or even name. He also remembered Cornell as a forgiving person who understood what his friends and colleagues may have been going through. "It's at this point of recording all of our previous albums, I'd get this overwhelming hit of awe, camaraderie, power of creativity, majesty even, and love, from the music, and my bandmates ... and I guess just pure life force," Shepherd continued.

The bassist went on to share more positive memories of Cornell's tenure with Soundgarden, mainly the joy they felt at having the chance to record albums and live out their rock 'n' roll fantasies. "Chris and I used to get giddy like little kids and laugh together in the studio at least once each time recording a record. 'Wow, we GET to do this, can you believe it!? We GET to record!'" Shepherd wrote, before concluding by again expressing how good he feels when listening to Cornell's unreleased work "from over that horizon."

Just two months after Chris Cornell's passing, the world lost another rock icon when Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington died on July 20, 2017. Bennington was a close personal friend of Cornell since the late 2000s, when Cornell, then performing as a solo artist, was part of the fifth iteration of Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution tour. In a 2008 interview with The Orange County Register, Bennington gushed about how Cornell was one of his primary influences as a singer, and opened up about how they had really hit it off while performing tour dates. "Fortunately, Chris is an amazing guy," he said. "We've become really good friends. I go up on stage every night with him and perform [Temple of the Dog's] 'Hunger Strike,' and he comes out during our set and performs 'Crawling' with us, and the crowd just flips out."

Immediately following Cornell's death in 2017, Bennington took to X (then known as Twitter) and posted a letter to his late friend, expressing his grief and thanking the Soundgarden frontman for being such an inspiration to him. "Your talent was pure and unrivaled," the letter read in part. "Your voice was joy and pain, anger and forgiveness, love and heartache all wrapped up into one. I suppose that's what we all are. You helped me understand that."

Given his tendency to be frank and opinionated about certain matters, it's no surprise that certain musicians and other celebrities can't stand Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor. But his heart is often in the right place, as it was when he took aim at fans who felt Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington did something cowardly by dying by suicide. "Calling them 'cowards' is a very immature way of looking at it," Taylor told Loudwire. "It's the easy way to look at something like that because it makes you not have to face what a serious issue it is. It's easy for someone to label it like that so they can turn their back on it and pretend that it was something that didn't happen to them, when inside they're hurting. People who fight depression are almost in a constant state of hurting."

Aside from that much-warranted fan call-out, Taylor had more to say about Cornell in another interview, this time praising the singer for not putting any boundaries on the type of music he can make. "If he wanted to try a genre, he'd do it," Taylor said (via YouTube). "He was completely fearless. For me, watching that over the years, I was so inspired by that, whether it was the heaviness of stuff like 'Jesus Christ Pose' or the beautiful, acoustic stuff like 'Seasons' that he did on the 'Singles' soundtrack."

Though best remembered for his time with Soundgarden, Chris Cornell also achieved great success with Audioslave, a supergroup that also consisted of three-fourths of Rage Against the Machine — guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford, and drummer Brad Wilk. While they only released three albums across their career, songs such as "Like a Stone" remain fondly remembered by rock fans, with that track showing a more sensitive but nonetheless hard-hitting side of the legendary singer. 

Years later, Morello singled out "Like a Stone" as a classic example of Cornell's brilliance as a songwriter. "The first time that we were writing it, he sang not the words, but sang the melody that you hear on the record, and I played the solo that you hear on the record," he told LoudTV. "So it was one of those songs that it felt like it was almost 'unearthed' in a way, and we just tapped into something that was very soulful."

Morello also spoke candidly about Cornell's addiction issues, telling Metal Hammer in 2024 that it took some time for Audioslave to realize he was dealing with such personal demons. He added that Cornell's time with the supergroup gave him some much-needed support amid his struggles. "I believe that the good fortune of all us having met bought him 16 more years," the guitarist said. "That band was so liberating, it really felt like the horizon was completely open. And you know what? Standing onstage with Chris Cornell beside you is pretty great."

The death of Chris Cornell hit particularly hard for many of his colleagues in the music business, including Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, who opened up about his friend's passing in a November 2020 interview on the Howard Stern Show. Vedder explained that Cornell's death especially affected him as it came soon after his younger half-brother Chris Mueller died in a climbing accident in Africa. "I've had to be somewhat in denial. I still haven't quite dealt with it," the Pearl Jam singer admitted. "I don't even feel like I had a choice. I was just terrified where I'd go if I allowed myself to feel what I needed to feel ... or how dark I felt like I was gonna go."

While obviously still struggling to process Cornell's death more than three years after the fact, Vedder also shared some fond memories of his friendship with his fellow grunge icon. "We were neighbors," he said. "I would hang out with him outside the band more than even the other band guys, and I didn't know that many people in Seattle. We would go on crazy hiking adventures, or we would go mountain biking, or we would chase the dog in the rain while drinking s****y beer — and it was cool." This, according to Vedder, underscored how Cornell found pleasure in doing regular-guy things despite his rock-star status. 

Metallica is no stranger to tragic losses within the band, as the veteran heavy metal act dealt with the untimely death of bassist Cliff Burton in a bus accident while on tour in 1986. They've also dealt with tons of drama through the years, as Metallica nearly broke up during the making of 2003's divisive "St. Anger," while revealing the harrowing process of that album's creation in the documentary "Some Kind of Monster." With that in mind, singer-guitarist James Hetfield knew whereof he spoke when he commented on Chris Cornell's death while being interviewed by Boston radio station WAAF shortly after the tragedy.

"It does make you hug those around you for sure — bandmates, family that's out here, family at home," Hetfield said (via Ultimate Classic Rock). It makes you realize that there's a darkness that anyone and everyone can find and feel that they're trapped in. When you're there ... at least I know the depth of my darkness at times, it's difficult when you're in that space to even fathom that there's someone there that can help you or has been through that before."

Additionally, Hetfield touched briefly on the deaths of other grunge musicians, as well as the 2015 passing of Motörhead singer-bassist Lemmy Kilmister, and how these "sad stories" had become commonplace in the years preceding Cornell's death. "It just makes us feel even more grateful to be out here doing what we're doing," he concluded.

Likewise, Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell has experience dealing with the shocking death of a bandmate, as singer Layne Staley died in 2002 after years of excessive drug use. Speaking to Rolling Stone for an article about Chris Cornell's legacy and last days, he admitted that the singer's death came as a surprise to him, as he was the "last guy in the world I thought that would happen to." The axeman also recalled the time before grunge broke out into the mainstream, referring to Soundgarden as a role model for other bands in the scene and praising Cornell for his honesty, both as a person and as a songwriter. "I share a lot of the issues Chris communicated [through his music]," Cantrell added. "And there's a power in sharing your weakness with the people who need to hear that, so they can consider, 'F***, that guy's dealing with it.' You don't feel so alone."

In conclusion, Cantrell favorably compared Cornell to Staley, explaining to Rolling Stone that both frontmen had a drive to succeed that was evident even in the early years of their respective bands. "There was something that I recognized and aspired to [achieve] –- to have your own voice and sound," he continued, in reference to Cornell. "Nobody else sounds like that guy. Nobody will."

System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian was one of the last notable musicians Chris Cornell worked closely with in the final months of his life. As the singer told Rolling Stone, the two men developed a tighter bond when they were recording songs for "The Promise," a 2016 movie set against the backdrop of the Armenian genocide. Cornell's track, also titled "The Promise," turned out to be the last song he ever released before his passing. 

As an Armenian-American musician whose work with System of a Down oftentimes referenced the genocide, Tankian was very impressed by Cornell's composition. "I loved it," he told Rolling Stone. "I told him, 'It's really emotional and you're bringing everything out.' He made a great connection in the song. The most important thing to realize about the Armenian genocide is not just what happened 100 years ago, but how it's relevant today, because that s***'s happening now. That's what he did with the song; he made that connection. I was really grateful for that."

More recently, Tankian looked back on some of the final conversations he had with Cornell during an appearance on the YouTube show "Last Meals." He recalled advising Cornell to experiment with an orchestra section in future recordings, also revealing that his friend was considering releasing an album of covers. "He had a lot of plans, which is why I can't understand, right?" Tankian added. "When you have a lot of plans, you don't just shut them down in one day. Right? Like, it doesn't make sense. Still."

Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters singer-guitarist Dave Grohl is yet another musician who knew Chris Cornell from way back in the day. Speaking to Rolling Stone, Grohl looked back on his early impressions of the Soundgarden frontman, whose soft-spoken offstage nature contrasted with his explosive onstage persona. "There was a bunch of the Seattle gang there, and Chris just seemed so quiet and mellow compared to the rest of the maniacs," Grohl recalled.

In an interview on the radio show "Morning Rumble," Grohl, this time joined by the Foo Fighters' then-drummer, Taylor Hawkins, looked back again on Cornell's reputation as a stand-up guy who overflowed with talent. "He was the sweetest person," he said (via NME). "He was so talented, he had so much to offer that it was a real shock to hear that he had gone. I think that mental health and depression is something people should really take seriously. There's a stigma attached to it that's unfortunate.

Hawkins, whose death in March 2022 was another crushing blow to the rock scene, chimed in with his own thoughts on Cornell's passing. "Not to get to hear Chris Cornell make another record again, that's my selfish version of it," the drummer said. "There's such a bigger hurt beyond my own selfish ... I barely knew him, a little bit, but what I did know, he was super cool ... We just loved his records, man."

If you or anyone you know is struggling or in crisis, or needs help with addiction issues, contact the relevant resources below:

• Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org

• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).