RIP: Chris Cornell, sound of the 90s

Growing up in Seattle, Chris Cornell's voice was for me the sound of the late 80s/90s, it seemed a natural fit for our rainy, grey NW weather. The casual grunge fashion of plaid & leather surrounded us and a sense of independence prevailed throughout the community. Seattle was much smaller then, a 20 minute drive now can take well over an hour.

I was saddened to hear of the loss of Chris this morning, and even more so by the suspected cause of suicide. I lost a student this year to suicide & again we are shown that mental illness crosses all lines. Cornell's voice was remarkable and his music represented an era for many of us, they put on an amazing show.

I've posted a few 90s photos to humor y'all (since I rarely post pics!)
1. Early 90s--pretty classic at the time! I remember wearing a uniform of leather, denim & boots to a lot of concerts
2. Lollapalooza 93, concert camping always meant black tanks & cutoffs
3. The "Singles" film cast & director Cameron Crowe. I have worked near the apt in the movie for the last 20 years, its very different now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUb450Alpps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNh-iw7gsuI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBZs_Py-1_0

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8 years ago

Anonymous

It is sad to lose yet another talented musician at such a relatively young age. He will be missed by many.

I loved that movie! Matt Dillon was so hilarious. I haven't seen him much lately.

Nice photos!

rebekahphoto

Veteran

Thanks Xtabay, we recently re-watched Singles & laughed the whole time!

Christina F.

I listened to Badmotorfinger over and over during some very formative years. I'm devastated.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Nice thread, Rebecca. VERY fun pics.

Tragic. He was married with two small children. He died on the same day as my late Mama.

We've seen Chris Cornell in concert 4 times - maybe more. Extremely talented, easy on the eyes, and a Seattleite. He has one of my favourite voices. Captivating and mesmerizing. I don't know HOW anyone can physically screech the way he could for several hours. Saw him unplugged at Benaroya Hall too. It was sublime.

I preferred him with short hair. I'll contribute this to the thread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=867iyhVFyEw

cindysmith

It's so sad. He was so central to the grunge music scene in the 90s, and was still relevant to this day. I was in my 20s when the grunge scene exploded and it was the soundtrack of my 'coming of age". Kurt Cobain, Layne Stanley, Scott Weiland. Please don't let 2017 take Eddie Vedder from us too.

Cindy, Eddie Vedder is the only one left of my favourite '90s trio. I love his voice. Their song "Release Me", goes right through me. Chilling.

Eddie Vedder had better stay alive! He really is kind of the last lead singer left from the big grunge bands.

Angie thanks for that link! I love his version of the "Bond" track, those 2 men sure show younger actors how its done I saw them several times over the years, & was sorry to miss the Temple of the Dog reunion last fall. Some of those songs can still give me chills.

Christina, Badmotorfinger was one of those albums that could get you right out of a funk for sure.

Cindy, something about the 20s-just starting out on my own after college, the music had a defiance and anything possible attitude I loved

ChristinaF, yes! its so difficult to see our talented artists losing to drugs and mental illness over and over.

rachylou

Back in the day, when I worked in Shop O' Punks, Soundgarden was one of those on our eternally repeating playlist. Those were the days. To be honest, our playlist is how we made the suburban tourists make their purchases and leave the store...

Eddie Vedder AND Chris Cornell in that "Temple of the Dog" song is a classic "supergroup" kind of recording

Bijou

A tragic loss which has touched many across the world. Musicians have a much lower life expectancy than many other professions and need the support of the community as they enrich our lives so much.

YES, Rebecca. We missed the Temple of the Dog Reunion too. Greg was talking about it - and then life got hectic. And absolutely. Most young actors and singers don't hold a candle to Chris & Craig.

Bijou, that was quite profound.

Aziraphale

HEARTBREAKING. A lost talent. I still listen to his music. My heart goes out to his family.

We NEED Black Hole Sun on this thread. SUBLIME - and with short hair:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltc5EsuyBh4

Rebecca, what is it about Chris and Eddie's voices that goes right. through. me. My heart goes pitter patter, and I have chills down my spine. Extremely compelling, moving and soothing - I just can't adequately put it into words. Classical music does nothing for me - but this type of '90s rock hits my core emotions in a very deep way. (And I was not living in the US in the '90s).

Angie I'm not sure why---but I know exactly what you mean. Black hole sun is such a great song, its also the power of the lyrics, they seem less "poppy" than lots of contemporary music

Depeche Mode, (and a bit of Bono-although he is a higher key) also can get that deep (angst? soulful?) connection going.

Rebecca, HIGH FIVE. YES. You get it. I like listening to musicians who write their own music - like Duran Duran too. Neither lead singer in Duran Duran or Depeche Mode have great voices - they can't compare to Eddie and Chris - but those voices TOTALLY work with their music.

Carla

Only 52? Too sad.

Emily K

This weekend, there was quite a memorial accumulating at the dog park--because it adjoins the NOAA property with the Sound Garden sculpture.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sound_Garden

Runcarla you are right, it is so sad to see such talent end at such an early time in life. I always think of what could have been.

Emily thanks for the info, I have not been to the Soundgarden in a few years, but feel a visit might be in order. The KEXP memorial on-air has been pretty intense, it is interesting how intertwined music can be with memories from the time period

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