Chris Cornell’sdeath in May 2017 was a huge blow to the music world, and it came out of nowhere. The singer died by suicide while on tour withSoundgarden, and fans and bandmates alike were shaken to their core. Cornell had played a successful show just hours before his passing. For a long time, fans believed they would never hear new Soundgarden music ever again. But it turned out that, for years prior to his death, Cornell and the band had been working on a new album. Unfortunately, legal disputes got in the way, but now the path seems clear for Soundgarden to release their last album. Here’s everything we know about it.
The Legal Battle That Delayed the Release of the New Album
For almost two years after Cornell’s death, bandmatesKim Thayil, Ben Shepherd,andMatt Cameronkept quiet about the tragedy. In 2018, Cameron embarked on a tour withPearl Jam,and given that the bands were close friends, they paid tribute to the late singer during their shows. But other than that, they grieved in silence until January 2019, when they, along with the Cornell estate, put together theI Am the Highwaytribute concert.
After that, it was time to get back to work. The surviving members of Soundgarden decided that it was time to finish their last project. Before Cornell’s death, the band had been working on what was going to be the next Soundgarden album, the second one since reuniting in 2010 after over a decade-long hiatus. They knew the process would never be the same as it would have been with their beloved bandmate and friend, but it felt right to finish their last album as a band.
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However, as soon as they decided to start the process,a legal battle started between them and Cornell’s widow,Vicky Cornell, over the rights of the unreleased songs. She filed a lawsuit against the band, claiming that the vocal tracks Cornell recorded before his death were his sole property. The band responded that that wasn’t the case, and that he had been working on songs the band was putting together collectively.
The lawsuit dragged on for three years, with hostility on both sides, and even a very public battle for the band’s social media. The remaining Soundgarden members were locked out of the band’s official accounts for almost two years, and during that time, the accounts were managed by the Cornell estate. In response, they created their own account named “Nudedragons,” an anagram ofSoundgardenthat they had used as a pseudonym for their reunion show in 2010, that the members managed personally, and a lot of fans migrated to the new account to get information first-hand.
Finally, in mid-2021, things started to get better.Soundgarden regained control of their social mediathrough a temporary agreement with Vicky Cornell, and with their first post, they extended an olive branch. Fans had been divisive amid the lawsuit, and when they regained the accounts, they called for fans to be kind to Cornell’s family.
“No more comments about wives, children, exes, significant others, siblings, parents, great aunts, 2nd cousins… etc. of any of the current or former band members… get it?!! It should go without saying, to the adults in the room, that there won’t be any threats, bullying or mocking of any kind, directed at anyone.”
Little did fans know that this was the first step towards the eventual release of the last album.
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In April 2023, after an arduous negotiation, the band and Vicky Cornell reached an understanding that would allow fans to hear the last Soundgarden album. They expressed that they had reconciled and were looking forward to working together to honor Chris Cornell, and fans couldn’t be happier about it. Still, two years later, there was no hint of when the new songs would be heard… until now.
On the eighth anniversary of Cornell’s death,bassist Ben Shepherd wrote an emotional post for his dear friend on the band’s Instagram account. He shared his grief and his love for his bandmate and reminisced about the good old days, but what really caught fans' attention was the reference to the new album.
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The Soundgarden-Audioslave singer-musician also talked about the continued importance of music and growing up as an artist.
“As I wait for my son Noah to get out of school today im thinking about… well actually its stuck in my head and’s been there since early this morning,” he wrote, “It’s a song Chris and Matt wrote ‘The Road Less Traveled’ for our album that has yet to be named.Just hearing Chris’ voice helps.”
In addition toThe Road Less Traveled,the titles of other songs from the upcoming record have been leaked throughout the legal battle. The songs “Orphans”, “At Ophians Door”, “Cancer”, “Ahead of the Dog”, “Merrmas”, and “Stone Age Mind"were mentioned in one of the lawsuits, although those are just the working titles. By the time they’re released, the band might rework them, but it’s exciting to know that there are at least seven songs by Soundgarden that fans have yet to hear. According to the lawsuit, “Ahead of the Dog"was originally written during the making of their 2012 record,King Animal.
Chris Cornell’s death was a terrible tragedy, but there’s comfort in knowing that his family and close friends are now on good terms and are determined to honor his life and career. And for Soundgarden fans, there’s the thrill of knowing that there are still new songs by their favorite band to be released.
