On May 17, Chris Cornell, frontman of Soundgarden and Audioslave, died of an apparent suicide. The news hit like a brick wall. He had done so much since arriving to the scene in the late 80s that it felt like he was immortal. He had basically invented grunge with Soundgarden, had one of the widest vocal ranges in all of rock and had experimented in many different genres of music.

Unfortunately, he began to feel isolated by the fame which led to alcoholism and drug addiction, according to Billboard.com, he went to rehab many times to cope with these issues. He had suffered on the inside his whole life, and it is tragic that he passed while trying to fight his anxiety with prescription medicine, considering that he had been addicted to drugs in the past.

Chris Cornell has been in many bands such as Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, and Audioslave. Temple of the Dog was a one-album band formed in tribute to the late Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone. The band consisted of members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Audioslave was Chris Cornell with all the members of Rage Against the Machine. Cornell also had a fairly successful acoustic solo career which included writing and performing “You Know My Name,” the theme song of “Casino Royale.” He is the only American male to have performed the theme song to a James Bond film. Chris Cornell’s lyrics in songs such as “The Day I Tried To Live,” “Say Hello 2 Heaven,” “Fell On Black Days,” and “Like Suicide” often dealt with death and depression.

Chris Cornell in 10 Songs

1. “Flower” – Soundgarden ( “Ultramega OK,” 1987)
2. “Loud Love” – Soundgarden (“Louder Than Love,” 1989)
3. “Say Hello 2 Heaven” – Temple Of The Dog (“Temple Of The Dog,” 1991)
4. “Outshined” – Soundgarden (“Badmotorfinger,” 1991)
5. “Seasons” – Chris Cornell (“Singles Soundtrack,” 1992)
6. “The Day I Tried To Live” – Soundgarden (“Superunknown,” 1994)
7. “Blow Up The Outside The World” – Soundgarden (“Down On The Upside,” 1996)
8. “Like A Stone” – Audioslave (“Audioslave,” 2002)
9. “Doesn’t Remind Me” – Audioslave (“Out Of Exile,” 2005)
10. “You Know My Name” – Chris Cornell (“Casino Royale Soundtrack,” 2006)