Artist

Chris Cornell

Soundgarden lead singer

Seattle, United States • 1964 – 2017

Chris Cornell is a musician from Seattle, United States, active 1964–2017. Their discography on Gatefold includes 12 records.

Start your shelf →Open in app

Albums tracked

140

In collections

1964

Since

Biography

Chris Cornell (born Christopher John Boyle; July 20, 1964 - May 17, 2017), Seattle, WA, United States, was an American singer/songwriter and guitarist. In 1984 he formed the band Soundgarden with bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Throughout the late 1980s and 90s, Soundgarden experienced major success as one of the major grunge bands (along with groups such as Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam). In 1990, Chris Cornell worked together with the (then) Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron

The Arc of Chris Cornell

The pivots — what forced Chris Cornell to reinvent.

The SST Sludge Years
Before the majors came knocking, Soundgarden were the first Seattle kids to sign with SST Records, the home of Black Flag and Husker Du. They were playing weird, lurching psych-metal that was too heavy for the punks and too smart for the hair metal crowds. You can hear it on Louder Than Love where the band is still trying to bridge the gap between heavy riffage and the arty, discordant textures of the local scene. It was a messy, loud era that proved Chris could carry a band on pure lung power alone.
The Terry Date Polish
Bringing in producer Terry Date for Badmotorfinger changed the physics of the band by tightening the low end and letting the vocals sit right on top of the mix. This was the moment they stopped sounding like a basement jam and started sounding like a stadium threat. The songs got tighter, the screams got more controlled, and the band started experimenting with open tunings that made the guitars sound like they were tuned to the center of the earth. It was the blueprint for everything that hit the radio in '91.
The Post-Grunge Supergroup
When Soundgarden imploded in '97, Cornell eventually ended up in a room with the instrumental core of Rage Against the Machine, which looked like a corporate fever dream on paper. Rick Rubin convinced them to ditch the political rap-rock and just write big, melodic anthems under the name Audioslave. The result was a weirdly successful pivot into straight-ahead rock that stripped away the 7/4 time signatures for something more muscular and direct. It lacked the mystery of his early work but proved he could dominate the FM dial without a single gimmick.

Influences

The Beatles — Cornell famously cited the 1962–1966 and 1967–1970 compilations as his entire musical education while he was a shut-in teenager. You hear it in the sophisticated vocal harmonies and minor-key bridges he buried under the distortion of Soundgarden. He even covered 'Strawberry Fields Forever' live to show exactly where those weird intervals came from.
Black Sabbath — The band basically formed to see if they could recreate the dread of Master of Reality. You hear the Iommi-worship in the slow, tuned-down riffs of songs like 'Mailman' or '4th of July.' Chris was the only singer in Seattle who could match that level of heavy with a voice that didn't sound like a cartoon.
Led Zeppelin — The Robert Plant comparison is obvious, but it’s the blues-on-steroids delivery that Chris took to heart. He directly referenced Jimmy Page’s production style as the goal for the wall-of-sound guitars on Superunknown. The DNA of 'Dazed and Confused' is all over the sprawling structure of 'Slaves & Bulldozers.'
Pink Floyd — He constantly praised Syd Barrett’s era of the band for its fearless approach to dark, psychedelic songwriting. The atmospheric, lonely dread on his solo debut Euphoria Morning is a direct line back to Meddle-era Floyd. He even used a Leslie speaker on his vocals to get that swirling, disorienting David Gilmour vibe.
Little Richard — In multiple interviews, Cornell credited Little Richard as the guy who taught him that a scream could be a melodic choice rather than just noise. You can hear that frantic, high-register grit in the early Soundgarden EPs. It’s the sound of a guy pushing his vocal cords until they nearly snap, just to see what happens.