Soundgarden 💔

Soundgarden is on tour, and from all the reviews, videos and chatter, going strong. To the public and fans, there isn't a hint of what's to come. I'm completely stunned to read that Chris Cornell committed suicide. This happened only hours after his Detroit show, where he covered Led Zeppelin's 'In My Time of Dying'. 😢

Let's be very clear. I'm celebrating the talent and music, not giving tacit approval to the alcohol-fueled and drug-ridden lifestyles of these musicians, or any musician, or anyone. Dabbling in cocaine and heroin, and reliance on any sort of substance is a painful path. They will become your lifelong demons. Music wise, this is my second shock of 2017. We had tickets to Grandaddy two weeks back. They had a new album and they were coming to Seattle. But Kevin Garcia had a sudden stroke and passed away. That was so sad.

When it comes to music, grunge is my first love. It was the only rebellious expression I had to counter the classical nonsense forced onto my childhood. The angst ridden music that came out of Seattle in the 90s spoke to my teenage heart, sang my emotions and soothed my soul. I don't know many new bands now with this sort of grunge sounds. Their music holds these influences, yes, but not quite 90s grunge. Soundgarden is the very first band I fell in love with. I was thrilled when they got back together in 2010 and released 'King Animal' in 2012. In an article today, NPR's Charles R. Cross wrote,

If there was one Seattle band of the "grunge" era that seemed more "Seattle" than any other, it was Soundgarden. Nirvana was actually from Aberdeen, and not a single member lived in Seattle until 1992; Pearl Jam didn't become a band until Eddie Vedder arrived from San Diego. But Soundgarden was truly Seattle. Chris Cornell went to high school ten blocks from my house, though for accuracy, that's just outside the Seattle city limits (and, for accuracy, he dropped out of that high school).

Here we have it, Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, Scott Weiland, and in an untimely sad fashion, Chris Cornell. Thank you for the music, gentlemen. Arguably, there're still Mark Lanegan, Tad Doyle, and uhhh Dave Grohl. And of course, Eddie Vedder. Seattle's Space Needle went dark for an hour tonight, to honor her brilliant and tormented son of grunge. Rest in peace, Chris Cornell.