Chris Cornell, Three Years Gone: Remembering the Late Soundgarden/Audioslave Icon

Note: This piece originally ran in May 2018, one year after the passing of singer Chris Cornell. 

Can you believe it’s already been three years since Chris Cornell, longtime vocalist and guitarist for Soundgarden and Audioslave, was found dead in a hotel room hours after playing a gig with Soundgarden?

He was only 52.

The loss of Cornell, much like that of Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington two months later (on Cornell’s birthday, tragically), is still rather tough to process. For decades, Cornell’s unique voice and unmistakable delivery set him apart from his peers, be they fellow Seattle-area bands in the ‘grunge’ scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s to the more mainstream hard rock/metal success of Audioslave in the early 2000s.

In the lead-up to the one-year anniversary of Cornell’s passing, his estate and widow, Vicky, posted a call to arms for fans to remember him:

pic.twitter.com/Z4kZOaDdl9

— Vicky Cornell (@vickycornell) May 12, 2018

Whether you can make it to Hollywood Forever for the vigil in Cornell’s memory or not, reflecting on what Cornell meant to you is definitely a great way of coping and continuing to pay your respects.

There’s a reason the rock world paid its respects with far-ranging musical tributes from artists all across the spectrum in the days and weeks after Cornell’s death.

The man was a “rock star” in the truest sense of the term; always a private soul, rarely (if ever) in tabloids for any of the requisite or cliche rock star excesses. He let his voice and music do the talking for him, and it did.

Chris Cornell lit a spark that has yet to burn out, and it’s up to all of us — those affected by his music, songwriting, personality and legacy — to keep it going.

May he continue to rest in peace. #KeepThePromise