Quick Facts
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| Profession | Musicians |
Chris Cornell is a sensational songwriter and rock star who made it to the top and excelled despite his difficult days of dealing with depression and drug abuse as a teenager. The Grammy award-winning singer was the lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave. He is also known for several solo hits including, Euphoria Morning (1999), Scream (2009), Higher Truth (2015), among others. Read on to find out more about how he overcame alcoholism and substance abuse, his parents, the cause of his death, his wife and kids.
Wiki, Biography, Height
Chris Cornell was born on July 20, 1964, in the United States. He was born Christopher John Boyle and was raised in Seattle. His horoscope is Cancer. He attended Christ the King Catholic Basic School and Shorewood High School. When his parents got divorced, he and his siblings – two elder brothers and three younger sisters – changed their names to Cornell, their mother’s maiden name. He has a mixed ethnicity of Scottish, Irish and English descent. Cornell suffered depression from the age of nine and with no friends, he stayed at home and eventually dropped out of school to help his mother. He worked as a waiter, and a chef to support the family. Coming from a family of alcoholics, he became addicted to drinking alcohol, taking hard drugs and stealing as a teenager.
Cornell was a slim tall guy with his distinct curly hair. He used to make an appearance as a rock star. When asked how tall he was he gave different measurements and said he was 6 ft 2 in and also 6 ft 3 in, but many believe him to be somewhere in between, maybe 6 ft 25 in.
Musical Journey – How He Began, Success
Chris Cornell’s love for music began when he stumbled into an abandoned music collection in his neighbours’ basement. The music collection included songs by the Beatles which he enjoyed. It inspired him to learn how to play the piano and guitar. His involvement with music reduced his anxiety and opened a whole new world of possibilities for him. He said music made him believe he mattered and that his life was worth something. He found Soundgarden in 1984 with his friend, Hiro Yamamoto, a bassist, who he met when he was in Shemps the band – a music band he was previously a part of before they separated.
Cornell played the drums and was also the lead singer. Kim Thayil who played the guitar later joined them. In 1985, they got Scott Sundquist, a drummer to join them so that Cornell would concentrate on singing alone. In 1986, Scott left to be with his family and was immediately replaced by Matt Cameron. Yamamoto also left to continue his M.Sc. program and was replaced by Jason Everman. Everman was soon fired and was replaced by Ben Shepherd.
The band became quite successful, signed a record deal in 1988 with SST Records and released an album titled Ultramega OK which was followed by Louder Than Love. In 1989, A&M Records released Superunknown album; which was their fourth and last album as a band. The album won two Grammy awards. In 1990, Cornell and members of the Pearl Jam recorded an album, Temple of the Dog to pay tribute to their mutual friend and Cornell’s roommate, Andrew Wood, who died of drug overdose.
In 1996, they released an album; Down on the Upside which includes singles, Weight in My Hands, Pretty Noose and Explode the Outside World. In 1997, the group broke up and were no more but reunited in 2010. In 1999, Cornell released his first solo, Euphoria Morning and formed the Audioslave group with Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk. Audioslave – the album – was released in 2002, Out Of Exile released in 2005, and Revelations in September 2006 was their last album together. In 2007, Cornell’s album Carry On which featured hit single, You Know My Name was released. The track was used in James Bond 2006 film, Casino Royale. The song was also nominated for a Grammy.
Parents, Wife, Kids, Family
Christopher Cornell was the third child of his father, Ed Boyle who was a Pharmacist and his mother, Karen Cornell who was an accountant. He had five siblings Peter, Suzy, Maggie, Katy and Patrick. Cornell was married twice. His first marriage was to Susan Silver in 1990 but they were only married for 14 years. They divorced in 2004 after only a child, Lillian Jean who they had ten years into the union in 2000.
He married his second wife, Vicky Karagiannis in the same year 2004. They met on one of his tours in France and fell in love immediately after his divorce to Susan. He married Vicky after proposing to her in a bar with a diamond ring while still in court with his first wife over divorce settlements. Vicky Karagiannis is a Greek-American who was a publicist before she married Cornell. They have two kids together, a daughter, Toni, (born September 2004) and a son, Christopher Nicholas (born December 2005.). This means Cornell has three children in total.
Cause Of Death – What Killed Chris Cornell?
Chris Cornell has been reported to have dealt with high levels of depression as a teenager, he later began taking drugs which he stopped taking in his later years after rehab. On May 17, 2017, Cornell was found dead in the MGM Grand Hotel in Detroit Michigan where he had lodged after his stage performance that evening. His wife Vicky, according to reports, had sent the security who is a friend to check up on him and on getting there, he had to break the door open only to find the rock star lying lifeless on his bathroom floor. He was immediately confirmed dead by the Police Department. Investigations into the cause of his death revealed that he hung himself and committed suicide by hanging but his wife claimed he had no reason to do that.
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