This man’s influence on my life cannot be overstated. For as long as I can remember, scratched and dusty Soundgarden CDs have sat on my shelves and at least one of my guitars has rested in drop-D tuning, ready to play “Spoonman” or “Black Hole Sun.” Chris Cornell fronted two of the bands that inspired me to play guitar in the first place, and if you were to ask me about music eight or ten years ago I would’ve immediately defaulted to talking about albums like Audioslave and Superunknown. The first few songs I learned by ear were Soundgarden cuts, beautiful and heavy riffs like “Loud Love” and “Outshined" that my young, untrained fingers would try to grapple with over the detuned E-string of my black Epiphone SG. I would always imagine Chris’s beautiful voice floating over those riffs, across all ranges, giving those songs meaning in a way no one else could.
I can still remember sitting at home watching Live In Cuba for the hundredth time, fascinated by Cornell’s effortless wailing in the heat of Havana, and the mesmerized faces of tens of thousands of people who he so easily communicated with despite not even speaking their language. If there was ever a perfect rock star, Chris was it, an uber-cool role model with boundless talent, always seeking a new sound and unafraid to push the boundaries of genre with odd-time, massively sluggish tempo, and absolutely ridiculous vocal range. I will always be there to defend the real king of the Seattle grunge scene, the greatest James Bond theme ever, and the most breathtaking voice in rock music. Chris Cornell, you will be dearly missed. RIP.
originally published on instagram.