4 years ago today: Chris Cornell found dead in Detroit hotel bathroom
Dave Bartkowiak Jr., Digital Managing Editor
FILE - This Sept. 23, 2011 file photo shows musician Chris Cornell in New York. The family of Chris Cornell and a doctor who they alleged over-prescribed him drugs before he died have agreed to a settle a lawsuit. Documents filed in Los Angeles court by attorneys for the rock singers widow and their children said a confidential settlement had been reached. The documents were filed in April, but had gone unnoticed before City News Service reported on them Thursday, May 6, 2021. (AP Photo/John Carucci, File) (John Carucci, Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Sources said Cornell's wife called a family friend and asked him to check on the singer who was staying at the MGM Grand. That friend forced open the hotel room door where Cornell was found dead on the bathroom floor with a band around his neck.
Detroit was Soundgarden’s 12th stop on their Spring 2017 tour. The band had six shows left on their tour schedule starting with a Friday night show in Columbus.
Cornell was considered a cornerstone of Seattle’s grunge rock movement which swept the nation in the early 1990s. But Soundgarden was founded much earlier in 1984 in Seattle by Cornell, guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Hiro Yamamoto.
The Grammy award-winning band went on a 13-year hiatus between 1997 and 2010. For part of that time Cornell fronted the group Audioslave with members of Rage Against the Machine. He also released several solo albums.
Soundgarden was back in business, however, touring the U.S. once again. Cornell’s sudden death left an uncertain future for the rock band.
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