Childhood And Youth
Cornell was born and raised in
Seattle, Washington and attended Christ the King, Catholic elementary school
and Shorewood high school. His parents are Ed Boyle (a pharmacist from an Irish
Catholic background) and Karen Cornell (an accountant from a Jewish
background). He has 5 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 1990s. Peter is currently the frontman for the New
York-based rock band Black Market Radio. Katy performs as lead vocalist for the
Seattle band Happy Hour Hero.
Cornell spent a two-year between
the ages of 9 and eleven solidly listening to The Beatles after finding a large
collection of Beatles records abandoned in the basement of a neighbors house.
Cornell was a loner,however, he was able to deal with his anxiety around people
through rock music. Before he becoming into 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 canopy 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 bassist. Cornell
and Yamamoto stayed in involved, and when The Shemps broke up Cornell and
Yamamoto started jamming together, eventually bringing in Thayil to join them.
Recording Career
1984–1997: Soundgarden
Soundgarden was formed in 1984 by
Cornell, Thayil and Yamamoto with Cornell originally on drums and vocals. In
1985, the band enlisted Scott Sundquist because the drummer allow Cornell to focus
on the vocals. The band's first recordings were 3 songs that appeared on a
compilation for C/Z Records called Deep Six. In 1986, Sundquist, who by that
time had a wife and a child, decided to leave the band and spend time with his
family. He was replaced by Matt Cameron, the drummer for Skin Yard, who became
Soundgarden's permanent drummer.
Soundgarden signed to Sub Pop,
releasing the Screaming Life EP in 1987 and also the Fopp EP in 1988 (a
combination of the 2 was issued as Screaming Life/Fopp in 1990). Though the
band was being courted by major labels, in 1988 they signed to SST Records to release
their debut album, Ultramega OK (1988), for that they earned a Grammy Award
nomination for Best Metal Performance in 1990. The band subsequently signed
with A&M Records, and became the first grunge band to sign to a major label. In 1989,
the band released their second effort, and their first for a major label,
Louder Than Love. Following the release of Louder Than Love, Yamamoto left the
band to finish his Master's degree in Physical Chemistry at Western Washington
University. He was replaced by former Nirvana guitarist Jason Everman. Everman
was fired following Soundgarden's tour supporting Louder Than Love. In 1990,
the band has a replacement bassist, Ben Shepherd.
Along with Alice in Chains,
Nirvana, and Pearl Jam, Soundgarden became one of the most successful bands from
Seattle's emerging grunge scene in the early 1990s. With Shepherd, the new
line-up recorded Badmotorfinger in 1991. The album brought the band to a new level
of commercial success, and Soundgarden found itself amidst the sudden
popularity and attention given to the Seattle music scene. Badmotorfinger
included the singles "Jesus Christ Pose", "Outshined", and
"Rusty Cage". The 3 singles gained considerable airtime on various
rock radio stations, while the videos for "Outshined" and "Rusty
Cage" gained considerable airtime on MTV. The song "Jesus Christ
Pose" and its music video was the topic of widespread controversy in 1991,
and the video was removed from MTV's playlist. "Rusty Cage" was later
covered by Johnny Cash on his 1996 album, Unchained. It also appeared on the
fictional radio station Radio X on the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
and in the 32-bit version of Road Rash. "Room a Thousand Years Wide"
was released previously as a single in 1990, but not to promote the album. It was
released (with the song "HIV Baby") as a 7" through Sub Pop's
Single of the Month club a full year before the release of Badmotorfinger. The
song was re-recorded for this album. Badmotorfinger was nominated for a Grammy
Award for Best Metal Performance in 1992. It absolutely was additionally ranked
number 45 in the October 2006 issue of Guitar World on the magazine's list of
the 100 greatest guitar albums of all time.
Superunknown became the band's
breakthrough album. Upon its release in March 1994, Superunknown debuted at number
one on the Billboard 200. The album launched many successful singles,
including "Spoonman" and
"Black Hole Sun", and granted Soundgarden international recognition.
Superunknown achieved quintuple platinum in the United States, triple platinum
in Canada, and gold in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and also in Netherlands.
Rolling Stone gave Superunknown 4 out of 5 stars. Reviewer J.D. Considine said
Superunknown "demonstrates so much greater than many bands manage in an
entire career." He also stated, "At its best, Superunknown offers a
more harrowing depiction of alienation and despair than anything on In
Utero." Considine criticized "Black Hole Sun" and
"Half", stating that the previous is "not a very good song",
latter "is the virtual definition of a B-side." Jon Pareles of The New
York Times said that "Superunknown actually tries to broaden its audience
by breaking heavy-metal genre barriers that Soundgarden used to accept."
He added that "Soundgarden...want something completely different from
standard heavy metal." David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave the album
an A. He said, "Soundgarden is pumped and primed on Superunknown, and they
deliver the products." He praised it as a "hard-rock milestone-a
boiling vat of volcanic power, record-making smarts, and '90s anomie and
anxiety that sets a new standard for something called metal." The album
was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 1995. 2 singles from
Superunknown, "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman", won Grammy
Awards, and also the music video for "Black Hole Sun" won a MTV Video
Music Award and a Clio Award. Superunknown was ranked 336 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and "Black Hole
Sun" was ranked 25 on VH1's list of the 100 greatest songs of the '90s.
The band's final album was 1996's
self-produced Down on the Upside. The album spawned singles, including
"Pretty Noose", "Burden in My Hand", and "Blow Up The Outside
World". The album was notably less heavy than the group's preceding
albums, and marked an extra departure from the band's grunge roots. Soundgarden
explained at the time that it wanted to experiment with different sounds. David
Browne of Entertainment Weekly said, "Few bands since Led Zeppelin have so
crisply mixed instruments both acoustic and electric." However, tensions
inside the group arose during the sessions, with Thayil and Cornell reportedly
clashing over Cornell's desire to shift away from from the heavy guitar riffing
that had become the band's trademark. Despite favorable reviews, the album didn't
match the sales of Superunknown. In 1997, Soundgarden received another Grammy
nomination, for the lead single "Pretty Noose". Due to tensions inside
the band, reportedly because of the internal strife over its creative
direction, Soundgarden announced it had been disbanding on April,9, 1997. During a 1998
interview, Thayil said, "It was pretty obvious from everybody's general
perspective over the course of the previous half year that there was some
dissatisfaction."
1998–2000: Solo career
In 1998, Cornell began working on
material for a solo album on which he collaborated with Alain Johannes and
Natasha Shneider of the band Eleven. The album, entitled Euphoria Morning, was
released on September,21, 1999. The album proved commercially unsuccessful
although the album's single "Can't Change" was nominated for Best
Male Rock Vocal Performance at the 2000 Grammy Awards. Euphoria Morning
includes "Wave Goodbye", Cornell's tribute to his late friend Jeff
Buckley. It's been noted that Euphoria Morning is influenced by Buckley's
songwriting and distinctive vocal style. He also contributed the song
"Sunshower" (a bonus track on the Japanese release of Euphoria
Morning) to the soundtrack of the 1998 film, Great Expectations, and a reworked
version of the track "Mission", retitled "Mission 2000",
was used on the soundtrack to the 2000 film, Mission Impossible II. In 2000,
Cornell began a tour to support of the album.
2001–2007: Audioslave
Audioslave was formed after Zack de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine and also the remaining members were
searching for another vocalist. Producer and friend Rick Rubin recommended that
they contact Cornell. Rubin played the remaining Rage Against the Machine band
members the Soundgarden song "Slaves & Bulldozers" to showcase
his ability. Cornell was in the writing process of a second solo album, however
he decided to shelve that and pursue the chance to work with Tom Morello, Tim
Commerford and Brad Wilk, once they approached him. Morello described Cornell:
"He stepped to the microphone and sang the song and I couldn't believe it.
It didn't just sound good. It didn't sound great. It sounded transcendent.
And... when there's an irreplaceable chemistry from the first moment, you can't
deny it." The quartet wrote 21 songs during 19 days of rehearsal and began
working in the studio in late May 2001.
Their debut album, Audioslave,
released in November 2002, spawned hits such as "Cochise", "Like
a Stone" and "Show Me How To Live", and has reached triple
platinum in the United States. The band was nearly derailed before the album's
release; Cornell was going through alcohol issues and a slot on the Ozzfest
tour was canceled. During this time, there was a rumor that Cornell had checked
himself into drug rehabilitation. He later confirmed it in an interview with
Metal Hammer that was conducted from a clinic payphone. In a San Diego CityBeat
article, Cornell explained that he went through "a horrible personal
crisis" during the making of the first record, staying in rehab for 2
months and separating from his wife. The issues were ironed out and he has
remained sober since now. The band toured through 2003, before resting in 2004
to record their second album.
Audioslave's second album, Out of
Exile, was released in May 2005 and debuted at number 1 on the U.S. charts. The
album has since gone on to achieve platinum. The album features the singles
"Out of Exile", "Be Yourself", "Your Time Has
Come", and "Doesn't Remind Me". Cornell admitted to writing his
most personal songs ever on this album, influenced by the positive changes in
his life since 2002. He also described the album as more varied than the debut
and relying less on heavy guitar riffs. Critics initially described Audioslave
as an amalgamation of Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden, however by the
band's second album “Out of Exile”, noted that they had established a separate
identity. The album was received more favorably than Audioslave's debut. Critics
noted Cornell's stronger vocals, seemingly the result of quitting smoking and
drinking, and recognized that Out of Exile is "the sound of a band turning
into its own." All music praised the album as "lean, hard, strong,
and memorable." The lyrics, however, were still a typical complaint,
musicOMH.com wrote that Cornell's lyrics "continue to frame on the
ridiculous." On May 6, 2005, Audioslave played a free show in Havana,
Cuba. Audioslave became the first American rock group to perform a concert in
Cuba, playing in front of an audience of 70,000. The band traveled to Havana on
May, 4 to interact with Cuban musicians. Cornell commented: "Hopefully,
this concert can help to open the musical borders between our 2
countries." The 26 song set concert was the longest the band had ever
played.
In early 2006 the band is came
back, recording their third album as they'd written most of the material during
the tour. The band released the album, titled “Revelations”, in September 2006.
For Revelations, that was influenced by 1960s and 70s funk and R&B
music."the first 2 singles were "Original Fire" and
"Revelations". 2 of the songs from the third album, "Shape of
Things to Come" and "Wide Awake" were also prominently featured
in Michael Mann's 2006 film, Miami Vice, before the release of the album.
Despite the exposure to different forms of media and also the positive critical
buzz for their third album, Audioslave didn't tour behind the release. They
went into hiatus to allow Cornell to finish " You Know My Name ", the
theme song for the 2006 James Bond film, Casino Royale, and Morello to pursue
his own solo work under the moniker of The Nightwatchman.
All of Audioslave's lyrics were
written by Cornell, while all four members were credited with writing the
music. Their songwriting process was described by Wilk as "more
collaborative" and "satisfying" than Rage Against the Machine's,
which was "a battle creatively." Cornell, for his part, saw
Soundgarden's songwriting technique as inferior to Audioslave's. Cornell's
lyrics were mostly apolitical, Audioslave's Morello mentioned them as "haunted,
existential poetry" They were characterised by his cryptic approach, usually
dealing with themes of existentialism, love, hedonism, spirituality and
Christianity. Cornell's battle with drug addiction and alcoholism was a
defining factor in the writing and recording process. Even though the singer
admitted that he was "never able to write effectively" while
drinking, and attended rehab after recording the debut album, Morello stated
that Revelations was "the first record [Cornell] didn't smoke, drink or
take drugs through the recording." However, Morello said: "Chris was
stone sober during the making of our Out
of Exile album. Chris was also sober during the making of Revelations and
before recording he gave up smoking as well. I apologize for any confusion or
concern that was stirred up by the first article. Sobriety can be a matter of
life or death and Chris' courage in maintaining his health for years has been
an inspiration."
News about Cornell's departure
emerged in July 2006, when insiders stated that after the third album he would
split for a solo career. The singer immediately denied the rumors, stating
"We hear rumors that Audioslave is breaking up all the time. ... I always just ignore [them]." On February,15,
2007, Cornell officially announced his departure from Audioslave, stating that
"Due to irresolvable personality conflicts also as musical differences, I
am permanently leaving the band Audioslave. I wish the other 3 members nothing but
the best in all of their future endeavors". Because the 3 members were
busy with Rage Against the Machine reunion, and Morello and Cornell had each
released solo albums. In 2007, Audioslave was officially disbanded.
2007–2009: Solo revival
Cornell and composer David Arnold
collaborated on the song "You
Know My Name", which Cornell
co-wrote and performed and accompanies the opening titles for the 2006 James
Bond film, Casino Royale. "You
Know My Name" is the first
theme song since 1983's Octopussy to use a different title than the film, the
first ever sung by a male American, and also the first ever title theme song
that didn't appear on the soundtrack album. Cornell is thefirst male performer
since 1987's The Living Daylights. It's the fourth title theme after Dr. No, On
Her Majesty's Secret Service and Octopussy, that doesn't create any reference
to the title of the film. "You
Know My Name" won a 2006
Satellite Award in the category of Best Original Song, and a 2007 World
Soundtrack Award in the category of Best Original Song Written Directly for a movie.
The song was also nominated for Best Song Written for a movie, tv or other
Visual Media at the 2008 Grammy Awards. This song became the first song
recorded for his solo album, that he began work on in 2007.
Cornell has done a number of meet
and greet showings together with his fanbase. On April, 18, 2009, it was
announced on his official website
that he would be doing a meet and greet at the "Electric Fetus"
record store in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Fans who caught on to the message were
able to meet Cornell for photos and autographs before the concert at the
"Myth" in Maplewood, Minnesota.
A promotional CD for his solo album, Carry On,
was released in March 2007, entitled The Roads We Choose - A Retrospective. The 17-song CD included songs from Soundgarden,
Temple of the Dog, Audioslave and Cornell's solo work.
On June 5, 2007, Cornell released
his second solo album, Carry On, produced by Steve Lillywhite. It debuted at
number 17 on the American Billboard charts. Among the artists who accompanied
him on his second solo album was friend Gary Lucas, who contributed acoustic
guitar to some of the tracks
In 2008, Cornell was featured on
the most Stage of Linkin Park's Project Revolution tour. Joining Linkin Park
and Cornell on the main Stage were Busta Rhymes, The Bravery, and Ashes Divide.
The Revolution Stage featured Atreyu, 10 Years, Hawthorne Heights, Armor for
Sleep, and Street Drum Corps.
2010: Soundgarden Reunion
On January, 1, 2010, Cornell
alluded to a Soundgarden reunion via his Twitter account, writing: "The 12
year break is over and school is back in session. In April 2010, Soundgarden
announced plans to headline Lollapalooza 2010. Soundgarden made the
announcement through their website and email list. On April, 16, 2010,
Soundgarden held a secret show at the Showbox Theater on 1st Avenue
in downtown Seattle, Washington, publicized via the band's mailing list.
Soundgarden made their first tv performance since their reunion on Conan
O'Brien's second episode of Conan November, 9,2010 on TBS.
