Chris Cornell, the lead singer of the bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, has died at the age of 52, according to the Seattle Times.
Cornell was one of the Seattle performers who, not only made grunge marketable, but also crossed over into heavy metal about the time that Alice In Chains had.
Both Soundgarden and Alice In Chains videos were featured on the long-running MTV show, Headbanger’s Ball in the early 1990’s, and while this columnist was not a fan of Nirvana, he loved material from Soundgarden and AIC.
Very political, Cornell also took part in movements, as he mocked Donald Trump on Trump’s home cyberturf on June 30, 2015, according to Alternative Nation.net. He also contributed to the soundtrack for the 1992 movie, Singles, and also played a small role in the film.
Cornell was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2011 for Best Original Song, The Keeper, featured in the film, Machine Gun Preacher, according to the Telegraph. He had concluded performing a show with Soundgarden Wednesday night when he was found on the floor of his hotel room and unresponsive.
MSN reports that Detroit Police are currently investigating Cornell’s death as a suicide.