Classic Rock
Ann Wilson recalls what Chris Cornell was like
Heart vocalist Ann Wilson grew up in Seattle, Washington with her sister Nancy and even after success with their band both of them did not forget about the city they spent their childhood and adolescence. Over the decades they helped many local bands, even giving them money to survive, which happened for example with the Grunge groups in the late 80s and early 90s.
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She knew the late Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell well and recalled in an interview with KLOS (Transcribed by Ultimate Guitar) what it was like to be around him.
Ann Wilson recalls what Chris Cornell was like
“Chris was a really complex and beautiful person – probably a little too sensitive to live in this world for that long. I just remember him being – at different times that I knew him – seeming very big and powerful and strong physically.”
“Then at other times when he was more depressed, he would seem a lot smaller. He would just fill his physical being, or not. He was so smart, so intelligent. And cynical, sarcastic – ooh, such a biting wit,” Ann Wilson said.
Cornell was born in Seattle in 1964 and started his musical career in 1983. He first achieved fame as the vocalist of Soundgarden, releasing six studio albums with the group, the final one being “King Animal” (2012). He also was part of the supergroup Temple of The Dog which had only one self-titled album released in 1991.
Alongside the Rage Against the Machine members Brad Wilk, Tim Commerford and Tom Morello, he also formed another supergroup. Called Audioslave, the band released three albums from 2002 to 2006. As a solo artist, Cornell released four studio albums during his life. The last one was “Higher Truth”, released in 2015. He sadly decided to take his own life in 2017 at the age of 52. He was on tour with Soundgarden at the time.
