Chris Cornell
Christopher Cornell (born July 20, 1964) is a guitarist/singer-songwriter most well-known for being the lead singer of Soundgarden, of which he was a member from their formation in 1984 until they disbanded in 1997. He began his musical career as a drummer, before moving on to become a singer and guitarist. He is currently the lead singer of Audioslave.
Soundgarden
While in Soundgarden, he also recorded an album with members of Pearl Jam as Temple Of The Dog, in tribute to his friend and former roommate Andrew Wood, who had died of a heroin overdose. He also worked as a producer on the album Uncle Anesthesia by the band the Screaming Trees and featured as an actor in both a cameo role and an onstage performance in director Cameron Crowe’s Seattle-based film Singles.
Cornell himself gained nearly as much fame as Soundgarden during this time, chiefly due to his exceptional singing abilities. Cornell’s range is known for being well utilised. In fact, his ability to soar into falsetto and through head voice effortlessly[1] often defies many a normal singers natural timbre, giving him a high harmonic overtone or (timbre) to his voice. Indeed, his ability to “belt” a note, almost screaming it is also well utilised, giving his Baritonal range an often much louder, or “higher” sound than is actually tonally present. This is shown to much effect on Badmotorfinger’s “Jesus Christ Pose”.
In late 1994 after touring in support of the album Superunknown, doctors discovered that Cornell had severely strained his vocal chords. Under medical directive, Soundagarden had to cancel several shows to avoid permanent damage to Cornell’s vocal chords.
Audioslave
Chris is currently the vocalist in the critically successful alternative rock quartet Audioslave, backed up by the former members and instrumentalists of Rage Against The Machine, Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk. Audioslave’s self-titled debut album spawned hits such as “Like a Stone” and “Cochise”.
Audioslave’s latest album, “Out of Exile”, was released on May 24, 2005, and debuted at #1 on the U.S. charts. The album features the singles, “Be Yourself”, “Your Time Has Come” and “Doesn’t Remind Me”. The band currently is touring in support of the album and has a new album in the belt for 2006.
Cornell’s vocal range seems to have deteriorated since his years with Soundgarden. At that time he could sing a D5 clearly. At the time of the self-titled Audioslave album, Cornell’s upper vocal limit appeared to be a B5. In addition, during Audioslave’s most recent tour and in the “Live in Cuba” DVD, Cornell rarely attempts to sing sustained B5 notes, such as in the chorus of the song “Shadow of the Sun.” This seeming delcine in Cornell’s vocal range was most likely a result of the over-straining of his vocal chords over his long singing career and possibly his bouts with alcoholism and drug use.
Chris married Vicky Karayiannis in 2004, with whom he had a daughter named Toni in September of 2004. They are expecting a son after Thanksgiving. Cornell previously was married to “Alice In Chains” manager Susan Silver. They are the parents of Cornell’s first daughter, Lillian Jean Cornell, born in July 2000. He currently lives in Los Angeles and Paris.
Related Link
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Official site with biography, discography, images, tour dates, etc. -
Fan page at fluttergirl.com (first such hit on Google) -
SeattleSound - everything about grunge music -
Chris Cornell Lyrics -
Thorough biography at a comprehensive Soundgarden fan site -
IMDB page for Cornell -
All Music Guide artist page for Cornell -
VH1 artist page for Cornell
