Chris Cornell, the lead singer of Soundgarden and later Audioslave, has died at the age of 52, his representative Brian Bumbery has revealed. He died on Wednesday night in Detroit.
Bumbery said that the death was “sudden and unexpected” and the cause is still not known. The statement also said that the medical examiner will be working to determine the cause and the family has asked for privacy.
Cornell was one of the founders of the grunge movement in the Nineties, and rose to fame with his band, the Soundgarden which he formed alongside guitarist Kim Thyail and bassist Hiro Yamamoto in 1984. The band was best known for the Grammy Award-winning singles Black Hole Sun and Spoonman.
Soundgarden was one of the first grunge bands that surfaced, and was the inspiration behind bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Alice in Chains. The band broke up in 1997 but Cornell continued to make music including the theme song for the James Bond film Casino Royale, You Know My Name.
Soundgarden later reformed in 2010.
Cornell had a successful career as a solo artist and songwriter. He released five solo albums Song book, Euphoria morning, Scream, Carry on, Higher Truth in the span of 16 years. His last, Higher Truth, which was released in 2015 reached the US top 20.
Cornell went on to form supergroup Audioslave in 2001 with former Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk.
He was reportedly performing last night at Detroit’s Fox Theatre, part of Soundgarden’s North American headline tour. Cornell was scheduled to play the US festival Rock the Range in Columbus Thursday night.