Chris Cornell

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Chris Cornell

Background information
Born July 20, 1964
Origin Seattle, Washington
Genre(s) Grunge/Alternative Rock
Occupation(s) Singer
Songwriter
Guitarist
Drummer
Instrument(s) Vocals
Guitar
Years active 1984 - present
Label(s) Sub Pop
A&M Records
Epic
Interscope
Associated
acts		 Soundgarden
Audioslave
Temple Of The Dog

Chris Cornell (July 20, 1964) is a American guitarist/singer-songwriter best known as the lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave. He began his musical career as a drummer, before moving on to become a singer and guitarist.

"My lifestyle was transformed after many years of drinking a lot, isolating myself a lot and going into long periods of depression."[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Soundgarden (1984-1997)

Along with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains, Soundgarden became one of the biggest bands[citation needed] in the early '90's. As the Seattle grunge scene was discovered, these bands were thrust into the international spotlight. Cornell became known for the incredible power and range of his voice, and for his dark lyrics often dealing with themes of death and existentialism. Following 1988's Ultramega OK, and 1989's Louder than Love, Soundgarden finally found widespread success in 1991 with the double-platinum album Badmotorfinger. They used this achievement as a springboard, following up with 1994's Superunknown, the band's highwater mark critically and commercially, which sold 5 million copies in the U.S.[citation needed] and earned them a pair of Grammys. Their final album, the million-selling Down on the Upside followed in 1996, but served more to foreshadow the band's demise than to continue their successful climb.

While still in Soundgarden, Cornell recorded an album with members of what would become Pearl Jam. This collaboration went under the name Temple Of The Dog, and the self-titled album was released in 1990. The album is a tribute to their mutual friend, and Cornell's former roommate, Andrew Wood. Wood, the former lead singer of Mother Love Bone, died of a heroin overdose the year before. The remaining members of Mother Love Bone would find a new vocalist, Eddie Vedder, and a new name, Pearl Jam. Temple of the Dog has gone on to sell more than a million copies, thanks in large part[citation needed] to the singles "Say Hello 2 Heaven" and "Hunger Strike," which features the duet of Cornell and Vedder. This was the first time Vedder was recorded professionally.

Cornell worked as a producer on the Screaming Trees' album Uncle Anesthesia and acted in a cameo role and an onstage performance in Cameron Crowe's Seattle-based film Singles. He also contributed 'Seasons' to the film's soundtrack. Cornell contributed vocals on the Alice In Chains song "Right Turn." He was also part of the project called M.A.C.C. that recorded the song "Hey Baby (Land Of The New Rising Sun)" for the 1993 Jimi Hendrix tribute album, "Stone Free".

Cornell himself gained nearly as much fame as Soundgarden during this decade, chiefly due[citation needed] to his singing abilities and vocal range. His ability to "belt" a note, almost screaming it is well utilized, giving his baritonal range an often much louder, or "higher" sound. This is shown to much effect on Ultramega OK's "Beyond the Wheel," Badmotorfinger's "Slaves & Bulldozers" and the title track from Superunknown. [1]

In late 1994, after touring in support of the album Superunknown, doctors discovered that Cornell had severely strained his vocal cords. Soundgarden cancelled several shows to avoid causing any permanent damage. During this time he collaborated with shock rocker Alice Cooper on Cooper's album The Last Temptation, and together with him wrote the song "Stolen Prayer". Due to tensions within the band, Soundgarden announced it was disbanding on April 9, 1997.

[edit] Euphoria Morning (1999)

Cornell released a solo album entitled Euphoria Morning in 1999, on which he collaborated with Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider of the band Eleven (now in Queens of the Stone Age). Although critically hailed, the album proved commercially unsuccessful despite the album's single "Can't Change Me" being nominated for "Best Male Rock Vocal Performance" at the 2000 Grammy Awards. Chris also contributed the song "Sunshower" (a bonus track on the Japanese release of Euphoria Morning) to the soundtrack of Great Expectations, and a reworked version of the track "Mission" to the film Mission: Impossible II soundtrack, retitled "Mission 2000". Euphoria Morning includes Chris' tribute to his friend Jeff Buckley entitled "Wave Goodbye". It has been noted that Euphoria Morning is influenced by Buckley's songwriting and distinctive vocal style.

[edit] Audioslave (2001-Present)

Audioslave was formed after Zack de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine and the remaining members were searching for another vocalist. Producer and friend Rick Rubin suggested that they contact Chris Cornell. Rick played the remaining Rage band members the Soundgarden song "Slaves and Bulldozers" to showcase Chris' ability. Chris was in the writing process of a second solo CD, but decided to shelve that and pursue the opportunity to work with Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk, when they approached him.

The recording of their self-titled debut went very smoothly by all accounts.[citation needed] All members felt that they were experiencing a collective burst of creativity. Despite this, the band was nearly derailed before the album's release; Chris was going through dependency problems[citation needed] and a slot on the Ozzfest tour was cancelled. The problems were ironed out however, and Chris has remained sober since this time. Audioslave has gone on to become a full-fledged band.

Their debut album, Audioslave, released in November 2002, spawned hits such as "Like a Stone" and "Cochise", and has reached triple-platinum status in the United States. 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 #1 on the U.S. charts. Critics noted Cornell's stronger vocals, due to him quitting smoking and drinking. The album has since gone on to achieve platinum status. The album features the singles, "Be Yourself", "Doesn't Remind Me", "Out of Exile" and "Your Time Has Come". The band toured through 2005, across USA and Canada and on May 31, 2005, Audioslave became the first American rock group to perform a concert in Cuba, playing for free in front of an audience of 70,000.

In early 2006, the band returned recording their third album as they had written most of the material during the tour. The band released their third album, titled Revelations, on September 5, 2006. The first three singles are: "Original Fire", "Revelations", and "Wide Awake". Several of the songs were prominently featured in Michael Mann's film Miami Vice prior to the release of the album. Touring for this album has been put on hold as Cornell is now focusing on his second solo effort. This album, Cornell has stated, does not mean the end of Audioslave.

[edit] Second Solo Album (2007)

In the fall of 2006, Cornell started recording his second solo album, with producer Steve Lillywhite, which he hopes to complete by the end of 2006.[citation needed] As he feels that Euphoria Morning contained less acoustic material than fans expected, he has stated[citation needed] that this upcoming album will feature more acoustic cuts. He does not intend this solo effort as a hiatus for Audioslave, as the band has been recording recently.

While recording his solo album, Cornell was involved in a motorcycle accident [2]. He was apparently "rear-ended by a truck in L.A.'s Studio City while riding his motorcycle" and "catapulted 20 feet into the air." He was, however, able to walk away from the accident but had severe cuts and bruises. He returned to the studio to record his album later that day.

A news article on MTV.com revealed a March 2007 release date for his sophomore album. In the article, Cornell also talks about some of the tracks which were stated to be in the album are "She'll Never Be Your Man" and "Arms Around Your Love". He stressed however that these are working titles. Another song which will make an appearance is an acoustic rendition of "Disappearing Act" a song which appears on the psychological thriller film Bug. The article also seemed to point to the fact that his cover of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" might appear on the album. He had previously performed this song unplugged at a few shows.

In two recent interviews for the new movie Casino Royale, in which Cornell performs the theme song, "You Know My Name", Chris revealed a tentative February/March 2007 release date. He also said that the song will feature on the new album. The interviews can be found here: [3] and here: [4].

The album will be released by Suretone Records, a record label founded by Jordan Schur, former president of Geffen Records and founder of Flip Records. The label is currently in a joint venture with Interscope, one of the labels for Cornell's band, Audioslave.

[edit] Other Projects

Cornell wrote and performed the song accompanying the opening titles for the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale. He and composer David Arnold collaborated on the song titled "You Know My Name". This is the first Bond theme song since 1983's Octopussy to use a different title than the film, the first since 1987's The Living Daylights to feature a male singer, and the first ever sung by a male American.

[edit] Trivia

  • Cornell mentions on the Audioslave - Live in Cuba DVD Documentary that he spent a 2 year period between the ages of 9 and 11 solidly listening to the Beatles after finding a large collection of Beatles records abandoned in the basement of a house.
  • He stands 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall.
  • Though he did not perform on the track, Cornell wrote the song "Someone to Die For" for the 2004 Spider-Man 2 soundtrack. The song is performed by Jimmy Gnecco of Ours and Brian May of Queen.
  • Chris is renowned for his high singing. The highest officially recorded note he sings is a G above male high C, both in the intro of "Cold Bitch", during the final chorus of "Say Hello 2 Heaven" and regularly during his cover of "Smokestack Lightening." On one occasion on an early bootleg recordings he is heard to go as high as A above high C.
  • The monthly hard-rock magazine Hit Parader listed Chris Cornell at number three on its list of the top 100 metal vocalists of all time in the November 2006 issue, behind only Rob Halford and Robert Plant.
  • Is referenced by The Suicide Machines on "The Vans Song".
  • Chris has a brother, Peter, whose band Black Market Radio released their debut album entitled "Suicide Parlour" in 2006. The similarity in their voices is uncanny and the younger Cornell's band and sound is described as much like Soundgarden.[5]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Soundgarden

Main article: Soundgarden discography

[edit] Audioslave

Main article: Audioslave

[edit] Solo releases

[edit] Contributions and collaborations

[edit] Soundtracks

 * = Song does not appear on the soundtrack despite appearing in the movie.

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Audioslave
Chris Cornell | Tom Morello | Tim Commerford | Brad Wilk
Discography
Studio albums: Audioslave | Out of Exile | Revelations
Live, DVDs, and Compilations: Audioslave | Live in Cuba
Singles: "Cochise" | "Like a Stone" | "Show Me How To Live" | "I Am The Highway" | "What You Are" | "Be Yourself" | "Your Time Has Come" | "Doesn't Remind Me" | "Out of Exile" | "Original Fire" | "Revelations"
Related articles
Rage Against the Machine | Soundgarden | Interscope Records | Epic Records | Axis of Justice
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
Preceded by:
Madonna
Die Another Day (song), 2002		 James Bond title artist
Casino Royale (song), 2006		 Succeeded by:
Incumbent
v • d • e
James Bond title themes
Official films
John Barry orchestra "The James Bond Theme" • Monty Norman orchestra "Kingston Calypso" • Matt Monro "From Russia with Love" • Shirley Bassey "Goldfinger" • Tom Jones "Thunderball" • Nancy Sinatra "You Only Live Twice" • John Barry orchestra "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" • Shirley Bassey "Diamonds Are Forever" • Paul McCartney & Wings " Live and Let Die" • Lulu "The Man with the Golden Gun" • Carly Simon "Nobody Does It Better" • Shirley Bassey "Moonraker" • Sheena Easton "For Your Eyes Only" • Rita Coolidge "All Time High" • Duran Duran "A View to a Kill" • a-ha "The Living Daylights" • Gladys Knight "Licence To Kill" • Tina Turner " GoldenEye" • Sheryl Crow "Tomorrow Never Dies" • Garbage "The World Is Not Enough" • Madonna "Die Another Day" • Chris Cornell "You Know My Name"
Unofficial films
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass "Casino Royale" | Lani Hall "Never Say Never Again"
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