Chris Cornell

In 1990, Andrew Wood — the singer of a Seattle band and Chris Cornell's flatmate — died of a heroin overdose.

Cornell was shattered, and did the only thing he knew how to do with pain: he wrote songs.

He put together a whole band just to say goodbye to his friend, Temple of the Dog, and in that project he gathered musicians who would later be Pearl Jam, among them a newcomer to Seattle called Eddie Vedder. The private tribute to a dead friend ended up being a historic record.

That was his way: when the world took someone from him, he answered with music.

The voice

Chris Cornell had a voice that seemed impossible: a range of almost four octaves, able to go from the fiercest scream to the most delicate whisper without effort.

He could sound like a beast and like an angel in the same song, and almost every poll that goes looking for the greatest singers in rock history has him up near the top.

He was born in Seattle in 1964 and in 1984 founded Soundgarden, one of the bands that brought grunge up out of the basement alongside Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains. They were among the first signings to the Sub Pop label and the first band of that scene to sign to a major.

With "Superunknown", in 1994, they became giants: "Black Hole Sun", "Spoonman", "Fell on Black Days". Cornell did not just sing; he wrote dark, poetic lyrics that gave that music a depth other bands did not have.

Then came Audioslave, with the musicians from Rage Against the Machine, a more intimate solo career of blues and acoustic guitar, and even a song for a James Bond film. A whole life of reinvention, always with that voice from another planet.

The echo in Chile

There is a thread of his that reaches all the way here and that almost nobody joins up.

The Chilean guitarist Alain Johannes, nephew of Peter Rock, was a friend and collaborator of Cornell's: he worked with him during his solo years and was at his side in his final ones. The pioneer of Chilean rock and the finest singer of grunge are, through that family tie, two steps apart.

What he said out loud

Cornell spoke openly, all his life, about his struggles: the depression that was always with him, the problems with drink and drugs that grew during the Soundgarden years, the rehab that gave him back his sobriety.

He did not hide it, and that honesty helped others dare to speak about their own. That is why his death hit so hard.

On 18 May 2017, in a hotel in Detroit, a few hours after playing a concert with Soundgarden, Chris Cornell took his own life. He was fifty-two.

The chain

And here is the most unbearable echo in his story, the one that already surfaced when we remembered Chester Bennington.

At Cornell's funeral, Chester — his close friend — sang Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", his voice breaking. Two months later, on the day Cornell would have had his birthday, Chester also took his own life.

The man who had turned grief for his friends into songs was, in the end, mourned by his own friend, who could not survive that loss. It is a chain of pain that should not be prettified: two enormous voices, two men who helped millions bear their darkness, defeated by their own.

The voice and the heart

He has to be remembered for both things.

Chris Cornell was one of the most extraordinary singers rock ever produced, capable of terror and tenderness in the same breath, and he was also a loyal friend who answered death with beauty.

If you put on "Black Hole Sun", or "Like a Stone", or "Say Hello 2 Heaven" — the one he wrote for Andrew Wood — you will hear a voice that sounded immortal, sung by someone quietly carrying an enormous weight.

Let us remember him not for how he left, but for what he did while he was here: an immense body of work, and the courage to say out loud that life sometimes hurts, so that others would not feel alone in feeling it. May that courage go on helping somebody stay.

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This piece discusses suicide, depression and addiction. If you are going through a difficult time or having thoughts of harming yourself, you are not alone and help is available. In Chile you can call *4141 free of charge, the Ministry of Health's suicide-prevention line, available 24 hours a day.

Sources

Chris Cornell (born Christopher John Boyle; Seattle, 20 July 1964 – Detroit, 18 May 2017), singer, songwriter and guitarist, regarded as one of the architects of grunge; he had a vocal range of almost four octaves and regularly features among the greatest rock singers. He founded Soundgarden in 1984, one of the flagship bands of the Seattle scene alongside Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains; he released his first records on the Sub Pop label ("Screaming Life", 1987) and the band was the first of that scene to sign to a major, A&M, in 1988. Among their albums, "Superunknown" (1994, with "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman") stands out. In 1990, after the death by overdose of his friend and flatmate Andrew Wood, singer of Mother Love Bone, he created Temple of the Dog in his memory; the project brought together future members of Pearl Jam, including Eddie Vedder. He later fronted Audioslave, with musicians from Rage Against the Machine, and built a solo career that included "You Know My Name", the theme from the film "Casino Royale" (2006). The Chilean musician Alain Johannes, nephew of Peter Rock, was a friend and collaborator during his solo years. Cornell spoke publicly about his depression and his struggle with alcohol and drugs. He died by suicide on 18 May 2017, after a concert in Detroit, aged 52; his friend Chester Bennington sang "Hallelujah" at his funeral and died by suicide two months later, on 20 July 2017, Cornell's birthday. Externally authored text, edited and verified for Rebobinados. Interpretations of the meaning of his work are offered as the author's reading. No song lyrics are reproduced, for copyright reasons. Information drawn from Rolling Stone, Variety, NBC News, Wikipedia and other press coverage.