Black Hole Sun
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Black Hole Sun" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Soundgarden | ||
| from the album Superunknown | ||
| B-side(s) | "My Wave" | |
| Released | 1994 | |
| Recorded | 1993 | |
| Genre | Grunge | |
| Length | 5:18 | |
| Label | A&M | |
| Writer(s) | Chris Cornell | |
| Producer(s) | Michael Beinhorn, Soundgarden | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Soundgarden singles chronology | ||
| "Spoonman" (1994) |
"Black Hole Sun" (1994) |
"Fell on Black Days" (1994) |
"Black Hole Sun" is a song by 1990's grunge band Soundgarden. It originally appeared on their 1994 album Superunknown and was the second single released from it (the previous one being "Spoonman"). It would later appear on the band's greatest hits album A-Sides. In many respects it is clearly the band's most recognizable song, and it was the most popular grunge song of 1994. In 1995 it won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance.
Released as a single in the summer of 1994, the song's success came shortly after the death of the grunge rock icon Kurt Cobain. With its bleak lyrics (particularly the chorus's "black hole sun/Won't you come/And wash away the rain"), its popularity may have been a result of the sadness that was felt throughout the grunge community at the time.
The music video that accompanied the song contained scenes that possibly reference the British TV series Doctor Who. Others assert that some scenes reference the films of David Lynch. As in the case of its radio airplay, the video was given heavy rotation on MTV.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Clear Channel put it on its list of possibly inappropriate songs.
"Black Hole Sun" has been covered by Judith Owen (mainly in 5/4 time, in a dramatic break with the original), Paul Anka, Mimi Goese, Incubus, Jandek, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé, Cibo Matto, jazz pianist Brad Mehldau, The Moog Cookbook, Alanis Morissette, Copeland, Peter Frampton, Handsome Hank And His Lonesome Boys as well as by former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell on his Euphoria Morning tour and by Cornell's current band, Audioslave, on their Out of Exile tour and Live 8 performance. It was also featured in a polka medley by Weird Al Yankovic.
[edit] Chart positions
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Black Hole Sun | Official Irish Singles Chart | No. 7 |
| 1994 | Black Hole Sun | Official UK Singles Chart | No. 12 |
| 1994 | Black Hole Sun | Mainstream Rock Tracks (US) | No. 1 |
| 1994 | Black Hole Sun | Modern Rock Tracks (US) | No. 2 |
| 1994 | Black Hole Sun | Top 40 Mainstream (US) | No. 9 |
[edit] External link
| Soundgarden |
| Chris Cornell | Kim Thayil | Matt Cameron | Ben Shepherd |
| Scott Sundquist | Hiro Yamamoto | Jason Everman |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums and extended plays: Screaming Life | Fopp | Ultramega OK | Flower | Louder than Love | Screaming Life/Fopp | Badmotorfinger | Superunknown | Songs from the Superunknown | Down on the Upside | A-Sides |
| Singles: "Hunted Down" | "Flower" | "Loud Love" | "Hands All Over" | "Room a Thousand Years Wide" | "Jesus Christ Pose" | "Outshined" | "Rusty Cage" | "Spoonman" | "Black Hole Sun" | "Fell on Black Days" | "My Wave" | "The Day I Tried to Live" | "Superunknown" | "Pretty Noose" | "Burden in My Hand" | "Blow Up the Outside World" | "Ty Cobb" | "Bleed Together" |
| Related Articles |
| Temple of the Dog | Singles | Grunge music | Audioslave | Pearl Jam | Alice Mudgarden | Hater | Wellwater Conspiracy |
