Can’t Change Me: A Chris Cornell Biography

Posted in FYI, Music. Written by Albert Costill on December 12th, 2008

I’ve been listening to Chris Cornell’s new single “Scream” a lot lately. It’s defiantly been tattooed inside my head. For longtime fans of Cornell it’s a lot to digest, so I got to thinking about his career and how he’s evolved over the years.

With that, I present a bio on the one and only Chris Cornell.

*Christopher John Boyle was born in Seattle on July 20, 1964.

* Chris Cornell started piano lessons at a very early age, but he disliked the lessons so he taught himself. By age 8 he had enough music to play a full set with a music teacher for the music faculty at the University of Washington.

* Cornell left high school at age 15 and worked as a cook.

* At age 9 he found a collection of Beatles albums in a friends basement and listened exclusively to them for years. Soundgarden would go on to cover The Beatles “Come Together”, “Helter Skelter”, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, “Hey Jude” and “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except For Me and My Monkey”.

* Cornell founded Soundgarden in 1984 with guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Hiro Yamamoto; the band started out as a trio featuring Cornell on vocals and drums.

* Soundgarden, which was rounded out by the eventual addition of Matt Cameron in 1986, released five studios: Ultramega OK (1988), Louder Than Love (1989), Badmotorfinger (1991), Superunknown (1994), Down On The Upside (1996)

Slaves And Bulldozers – Soundgarden
* Chris married Susan Silver in 1990, she was manager for Soundgarden and Alice in Chains.

* After the passing of friend and former roommate, Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone, Cornell recorded some demos, including the song “Reach Down”.

* In 1991 Chris Cornell and Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron teamed up with a group of guys that would form Pearl Jam for Temple of the Dog, a tribute album for Andrew Wood.

* Also in 1991, Cornell was a producer, and also lent some backing vocals, for The Screaming Trees album Uncle Anesthesia.

* The song “Seasons” from the 1992 Singles soundtrack was Cornell’s first released solo track. He even has a cameo in the flick.

Seasons – Chris Cornell
* Cornell, along with Mudhoney’s Mark Arm, joined Alice in Chains for the track “Right Turn” on AIC’s 1992 EP Sap.

* In 1993 Chris would team up with Cameron, Mike McCready and Jeff Ament again for a cover of “Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)” for the Jimi Hendrix tribute album Stone Free: A Tribute To Jimmy Hendrix. The group called themselves M.A.C.C.

* Soundgarden disbanded on April 9, 1997.

* Chris lent his pipes, and writing talents, to the track “Stolen Prayers” on Alice Cooper’s 1994 album The Last Temptation.

* In 1997 Cornell, with the band Eleven, recorded a version of “Ave Maria” for A Very Special Christmas 3.

* In 1998, the song “Sunshower” appeared in the film and soundtrack for a revamped Great Expectations which starred Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Sunshower – Chris Cornell
* Cornell’s first solo album, which featured Eleven, Euphoria Morning, was released on September 21, 1999.

* The track “Flutter Girl” was originally an outtake from Superunknown.

* “Wave Goodbye” was a dedication to Cornell’s friend Jeff Buckley, who had drowned in 1997. Cornell had overseen the production of Buckley’s posthumous release Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk earlier in 1998.

Wave Goodbye – Chris Cornell
* The international version of Euphoria Morning, features a French version of “Can’t Change Me”, yes he sings in French too!

* A revamped version of “Mission”, which was retitled “Mission 2000″, was featured on the soundtrack to Mission Impossible II.

* Chris was working on his second solo album when he was approached to join Audioslave, after producer Rick Reuben played the Soundgarden track “Slaves & Bulldozers” for the remaining members of Rage Against The Machine.

* In 2002, he left Audioslave over management disputes, before their debut album was even released, fortunately, he rejoined the band.

* Audioslave released three albums: Audioslave (2002), Out of Exile (2005), Revelations (2006).

Your Time Has Come – Audioslave
* In 2003 Audioslave was a headliner for the return of Lollapalooza. This made Cornell the only person to be a part of the festival’s main stage on three separate times, Soundgarden in 1992 and 1996, and Audioslave in 2003.

* On October 28, 2003 at the Santa Barbara Bowl, Cornell showed up at Pearl Jam’s benefit show for the Louis Warschaw Prostate Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai. Cornell does “Can’t Change Me” and “Like A Stone” solo and then a Temple of the Dog reunion follows with “Hunger Strike” and “Reach Down”.

* Cornell and Silver divorced in 2004, he was quickly remarried to model Vicky Karayiannis.

* Chris has three children, Lillian Jean (with Silver), as well as, Toni and Christopher Nicholas with Karayiannis.

* In 2006, Chris Cornell recorded the track “You Know My Name” for Casino Royale. This made him the first American male to perform the theme song for a James Bond movie.

* Cornell officially left Audioslave in 2007.

* His second solo album, Carry On, was released on June 5, 2007.

* Carry On featured a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”, which first saw light when Cornell did a solo acoustic performance in Stockholm, Sweden while promoting Revelations.

* The track “Disappearing Act” also appears on the soundtrack to the 2007 horror flick Bug.

* Cornell was part of the 2008 edition of the Projekt Revolution tour, which also featured Linkin Park, Busta Rhymes, Ashes Divide and The Bravery.

* Cornell teamed up with producer Timbaland for his third solo album Scream after it was suggested that Timbland be recruited to remix Carry On.

* Scream was originally planned to be released on September 23, then moved to November 4, the official release date is now February 3, 2009.

* Cornell and Timbaland teamed up for a eight date west coast tour in October of 2008.

* On December 7, 2008 Cornell preformed “Won’t Get Fooled Again” at the Kennedy Honors Center in D.C., where The Who were honored for their musical achievements. Other honorees were Morgan Freeman, George Jones and Barbra Streisand.

* The video for “Scream” will be released on December 15, 2008.

* Cornell has released four singles thus far for Scream, which includes “Scream”, “Watch Out”, “Ground Zero” and “Long Gone”.

Long Gone – Chris Cornell feat. Timbaland

Image via Wikipedia