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Chris Cornell

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Chris Cornell

Chris Cornell (born Christopher John Boyle on July 20, 1964) is an American musician best known as the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the rock bands Soundgarden (1984-1997) and Audioslave (2001-2007). He was the founder and frontman for Temple of the Dog, the one-off tribute band dedicated to his former roommate, Andrew Wood, and has released two solo albums, Euphoria Morning (1999) and Carry On (2007). He also co-wrote and performed the song "You Know My Name" for the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale.

Career

Soundgarden (1984–1997)

Main article: Soundgarden
File:Sg96promo.jpg
Soundgarden line-up (1990-1997): from left to right: Matt Cameron, Kim Thayil, Chris Cornell and Ben Shepherd

Along with Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam, Soundgarden became one of the biggest and most successful bands from Seattle's emerging grunge scene in the early 1990s. The band was formed in 1984 by Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil and Hiro Yamamoto, with Cornell originally on drums and vocals. They hired drummer Scott Sundquist, so that Cornell could concentrate on singing. After a year-and-a-half Sundquist was replaced by Matt Cameron, former drummer of Skin Yard.

The band signed to Sub Pop, releasing the Screaming Life EP in 1987 and the Fopp EP in 1988 (a combination of the two was issued as Screaming Life/Fopp in 1990). Though the band was being courted by major labels, in 1988 they signed to SST Records to release their debut album, Ultramega OK (1988), for which they earned a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance in 1990.

Cornell became known for the power and range of his voice, and for his dark lyrics often dealing with themes of death and existentialism. He is renowned for hitting high notes in his vocal range in full head voice (as opposed to falsetto). The highest officially recorded note he sings is a B5 at about 3:50 into the Soundgarden cover of "Smokestack Lightning". On one occasion on an early bootleg recording he is heard hitting the A above high C.

In 1989, the band released their second effort and also their first album for a major label, Louder Than Love, through A&M Records. It was also the last Soundgarden album to feature the band's original bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Ben Shepherd was soon recruited as a permanent replacement. Soundgarden finally found widespread success in 1991 with the double-platinum album Badmotorfinger.

After Cornell had finished with the Temple of the Dog project, Soundgarden used Badmotorfinger's success achievement as a springboard, following up with 1994's Superunknown, the band's highwater mark critically and commercially, which sold 7 million copies worldwide[1] and earned them a pair of Grammys.

In late 1994, after touring in support of the album Superunknown, doctors discovered that Cornell had severely strained his vocal cords. Soundgarden cancelled several shows to avoid causing any permanent damage. During this time he collaborated with shock rocker Alice Cooper on Cooper's album The Last Temptation, and together with him wrote the song "Stolen Prayer".

Their final album, the million-selling Down on the Upside followed in 1996, but served more to foreshadow the band's demise than to continue their successful climb. Due to tensions within the band, Soundgarden announced it was disbanding on April 9, 1997.

Going solo: Euphoria Morning (1998 - 2000)

In 1998 Cornell began writing work for a solo album, entitled Euphoria Morning, released on September 21, 1999, on which he collaborated with Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider of the band Eleven. The album proved commercially unsuccessful although the album's single "Can't Change Me" was nominated for "Best Male Rock Vocal Performance" at the 2000 Grammy Awards. They also contributed the song "Sunshower" (a bonus track on the Japanese release of Euphoria Morning) to the soundtrack of Great Expectations, and a reworked version of the track "Mission", retitled "Mission 2000", was used on the soundtrack to the film Mission: Impossible II. Euphoria Morning includes Cornell's tribute to his friend Jeff Buckley, entitled "Wave Goodbye". It has been noted that Euphoria Morning is influenced by Buckley's songwriting and distinctive vocal style. In 2000, he embarked on a tour in support of the album.

Audioslave (2001–2007)

Main article: Audioslave

Audioslave was formed after Zack de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine and the remaining members were searching for another vocalist. Producer and friend Rick Rubin suggested that they contact Chris Cornell. Rubin played the remaining Rage band members the Soundgarden song "Slaves & Bulldozers" to showcase his ability. Cornell was in the writing process of a second solo CD, but decided to shelve that and pursue the opportunity to work with Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk when they approached him.

The recording of their self-titled debut went very smoothly by all accounts.[citation needed] All members felt that they were experiencing a collective burst of creativity. Despite this, the band was nearly derailed before the album's release; Cornell was going through alcohol dependency problems[citation needed] and a slot on the Ozzfest tour was cancelled. The problems were ironed out however, and he has remained sober since this time.

Their debut album, Audioslave, released in November 2002, spawned hits such as "Like a Stone" and "Cochise", and has reached triple-platinum status in the United States. The band toured through 2003, before resting in 2004 to record their second album.

Audioslave's second album, Out of Exile, was released in May 2005 and debuted at #1 on the U.S. charts. Critics noted Cornell's stronger vocals, due to him quitting smoking and drinking. The album has since gone on to achieve platinum status. The album features the singles, "Be Yourself", "Doesn't Remind Me", "Out of Exile" and "Your Time Has Come". The band toured through 2005, across USA and Canada and on May 31, 2005, Audioslave became the first American rock group to perform a concert in Cuba, playing for free in front of an audience of 70,000.

In early 2006 the band returned, recording their third album as they had written most of the material during the tour. The band released the album, titled Revelations, in September 2006. The first two singles were "Original Fire" and "Revelations". Two of the songs from the third album, "Shape of Things to Come" and "Wide Awake" were also prominently featured in Michael Mann's film Miami Vice prior to the release of the album. Despite the exposure to other forms of media and the positive critical buzz for their third album, Audioslave did not tour behind the release. They went into hiatus to allow Cornell to complete the title track for the latest James Bond movie and Morello to pursue his own solo work under the moniker of The Nightwatchman.[2]

On February 15, 2007, Cornell officially announced his departure from Audioslave, stating that "Due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences, I am permanently leaving the band Audioslave. I wish the other three members nothing but the best in all of their future endeavors." [3]

Solo again: Carry On (2007-present)

Cornell co-wrote and performed the song accompanying the opening titles for the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale. He and composer David Arnold collaborated on the song titled "You Know My Name". This is the first Bond theme song since 1983's Octopussy to have a different title from the film, the first since 1987's The Living Daylights to feature a male singer, the first ever sung by a male American, and the first ever title theme song to not appear on the soundtrack album. This song became the first song recorded for his solo album, which he began work on in 2007.

On June 5, 2007 Cornell released his second solo album Carry On, with producer Steve Lillywhite. Among the artists who accompanied him on his second solo release was friend and legendary musician Gary Lucas, who contributed acoustic guitar to some of the tracks. Cornell has stated that he is always writing, and that there are some songs that he was not able to put onto an Audioslave album.[4]

While recording his second solo album, Cornell was involved in a motorcycle accident.[5] He was apparently "rear-ended by a truck in L.A.'s Studio City while riding his motorcycle" and "catapulted 20 feet into the air." He was, however, able to walk away from the accident but had severe cuts and bruises. He returned to the studio later that day.

"Carry On" debuted at number 17 on the American Billboard charts.

Template:Sound sample box align rightTemplate:Sample box end A promotional CD for Carry On was released in March 2007, entitled "The Roads We Choose - A Retrospective." The 17-song CD included songs from Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave and Cornell's solo work. Though not officially released onto CD, an hour long acoustic concert Cornell performed on 7 September of 2006 at O-Baren in Stockholm is widely available for download under the title Chris Cornell: Unplugged in Sweden.

Cornell recently appeared as support to Aerosmith on at least one leg, Dublin, of their 2007 world tour[6]

An August 10, 2007, post on Cornell's MySpace blog reported that he was diagnosed with strained vocal cords following the end of his U.S. summer tour. A doctor "strongly advised" him to take off 10-14 days from performing to prevent further damage. Shows in Austria, Hungary, and Poland were cancelled, although Cornell promises to return to those countries.

Other Projects

Cornell worked as a producer and backing vocalist on the Screaming Trees' album Uncle Anesthesia and acted in a cameo role and an onstage performance in Cameron Crowe's Seattle-based film Singles. He also contributed 'Seasons' as well as the Soundgarden song "Birth Ritual" to the film's soundtrack. Cornell contributed vocals on the Alice in Chains song "Right Turn." He was also part of the project called M.A.C.C. that recorded the song "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)" for the 1993 Jimi Hendrix tribute album, "Stone Free".

It was falsely indicated (for many years) that Cornell had written the song "Someone to Die For" for the 2004 Spider-Man 2 soundtrack, but this was disproved during an Interview in April 2007.[7] The song is performed by Jimmy Gnecco of Ours and Brian May of Queen. Cornell had recorded a version of the song sometime earlier, which was released only to members of the Eleven street team.

Cornell is touring with Linkin Park around New Zealand, Australia and Asia; and will be at Rod Laver Arena on the 14th and 15th of October.

Cornell was the face of fashion producer John Varvatos' 2006 ad campaign. He recently became a restaurateur with the opening of his restaurant, Black Calvados in Paris. He is also the owner of the music publishing company You Make Me Sick I Make Music.

Temple of the Dog (1991)

Main article: Temple of the Dog

While still in Soundgarden, Cornell recorded an album with members of what would become Pearl Jam. This collaboration went under the name Temple of the Dog, and the self-titled album was released in 1991. The album is a tribute to their mutual friend, and Cornell's former roommate, Andrew Wood. Wood, the former lead singer of Mother Love Bone, died of a heroin overdose the year before. Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard of Mother Love Bone would team up with Mike McCready and Dave Krusen and find a new vocalist Eddie Vedder in 1991, forming Pearl Jam. Temple of the Dog has gone on to sell more than a million copies, thanks in large part to the singles "Say Hello 2 Heaven" and "Hunger Strike," which features the duet of Cornell and Vedder. This was the first time Vedder was recorded professionally.

Recognition

  • Badmotorfinger, Soundgarden's breakthrough album reached double platinum status.
  • Superunknown, another Soundgarden album won 2 grammys and reached quintuple platinum status.
  • Down on the Upside, Soundgarden album, reached platinum status.
  • Audioslave, the debut album from Audioslave reached triple platinum status.
  • Out of Exile, the second album released by Audioslave, reached platinum status, and debuted on the U.S. music charts at #1.
  • Cornell received a grammy nomination for Can't Change Me on his first solo album, Euphoria Morning
  • In March of 2003, MTV and Blender Magazine aired a special on MTV and MTV2 listing the 22 Greatest Voices in Music, on which Cornell is listed as number 12.
  • The monthly hard-rock magazine Hit Parader listed Chris Cornell at number four on its list of the top 100 metal vocalists of all time in the November 2006 issue, behind only Rob Halford, Robert Plant, and Steven Tyler.

Personal life

Cornell was born on July 20, 1964 in Seattle , Washington and lived there in his childhood. His parents are Ed Boyle (a pharmacist of Irish Catholic descent)[8] and Karen Cornell (an accountant of Jewish descent).[9] Cornell and his siblings took his mother's maiden name after his parents divorced.

Cornell mentions on the Audioslave - Live in Cuba DVD documentary that he spent a two-year period between the ages of 9 and 11 solidly listening to The Beatles after finding a large collection of Beatles records abandoned in the basement of a house. He then suffered from a severe case of depression during his teenage years, rarely leaving the house. At one point, he spent a whole year of his life without leaving his house, during which time he would spend his time drinking, playing drums and guitar. Before becoming a successful musician, he worked at a seafood wholesaler and was a sous chef at a restaurant named Ray's Boathouse.

He is currently married to Vicky Karayiannis, a Paris-based publicist, and was previously married to Susan Silver, the manager of Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. He had a daughter with Silver, Lillian Jean, in June 2000. He and Silver divorced in 2001 and he remarried in 2003 to Karayiannis. She gave birth to his second daughter, Toni, in September 2004, and their second and his third child, Christopher Nicholas, in December 2005.

He has an older brother, Peter, and two younger sisters, Katy and Suzy, who together formed the band Inflatable Soule, a moderately popular band in Seattle during the '90s. Peter Cornell is now in the band Black Market Radio, which released their debut album entitled Suicide Parlour in 2006.

Discography

Contributions and collaborations

Soundtracks

* = Song does not appear on the soundtrack despite appearing in the movie.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Soundgarden Discography
  2. ^ Chris Cornell Working On Solo LP — But Dismisses Rumors Of Audioslave Split
  3. ^ Chris Harris (February 15, 2007). "Chris Cornell Talks Audioslave Split, Nixes Soundgarden Reunion". MTV. Retrieved 2007-02-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Chris Cornell solo album
  5. ^ Quick Hits: The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, Family Values Tour, Chris Cornell, Scream 5 tour, Snow Patrol, Staind, Lollapalooza, Metallica, Elvis Costello, NIN
  6. ^ Aerosmith at Marlay Park (Baile Átha Cliath) on 26 Jun 2007 – Last.fm
  7. ^ Chris Cornell Live @ MMM Interview 4/4
  8. ^ Howard Stern Show 6/12/07: Chris Cornell Interview
  9. ^ Howard Stern Show 6/12/07: Chris Cornell Interview
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Template:Axis of Justice

Preceded by
Madonna
Die Another Day (song), 2002 		James Bond title artist
Casino Royale (You Know My Name), 2006 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

Template:James Bond themes

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