Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell dead at the age of 52

The rocker’s death was described as “sudden and unexpected” after his last performance in Detroit

Soundgarden rocker Chris Cornell is said to have died at the age of 52.

“A representative says rocker Chris Cornell has died at age 52,” said KFI AM 640 on Twitter.

Chris’ rep Brian Bumbery told AP that the lead singer – who also played in Audioslave – said Cornell’s death was “sudden and unexpected” and that his wife and family were shocked by his loss.

The statement also said the family would be working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause and asked for privacy.

Chris Cornelle with his children, Toni and Lilian Jean, in April 2017 (Photo: Rex Features)

How did Chris Cornell die?

Chris Cornell’s cause of death at the age of 52 has not yet been made public, but his rep said his whole family were shocked by its “sudden and unexpected” nature.

Chris Cornell’s last Soundgarden tour

Chris’ last time on stage was when he performed a Soundgarden gig last night in Detroit ‘s Fox Theatre, which was part of the band’s North American headline tour.

They were due to travel to Columbus, Ohio for a concert on May 19 and were scheduled to appear in Maryland Heights, Denver, Houston, Dallas and Oklahoma where their tour would end on May 27.

His tragic death comes after a 2012 interview with the Daily Mirror in which Chris talked about his time in rehab.

One of the most popular bands to emerge from the 90s Seattle grunge revolution, Soundgarden sold 22 million albums and won two Grammy awards.

Having disbanded in 1997, the band reunited in 2010 and, after subsequent live shows and the success of their Telephantasm compilation, are releasing King Animal, their first studio album in 16 years.

But the intervening period saw frontman Chris Cornell, now 48, going through some dark days during the band’s time apart, including a spell in rehab.

“It’s something that would have happened even if Soundgarden had stayed together,” he admits.

“It was a long slow slide and then a long slow recovery, but there was self-discovery too.

“For me it was mostly alcohol – from my late teens until my late thirties.”

Chris adds that “near the end of Soundgarden I started to unravel a lot more than I had previously”, but he then went on to even greater success fronting the supergroup Audioslave with members of Rage Against The Machine.

As a solo artist he’s also made four albums, recorded the theme for the James Bond movie Casino Royale and worked with R&B producer Timbaland.

“I came out of rehab,” Chris recalls, “and immediately went on tour with Audioslave, sold millions of records and was playing in front of crowds of 10,000 or 20,000.

“It’s not what most people go through. Most of the time, coming out of rehab people have a destroyed life, struggle to just work again and get a job.

“I sort of had an identity sitting there waiting to be embraced.

“I was very lucky I was able to see that and not take it for granted. It helped me climb out of the mire. I saw how hard it could be.”

He may have been on a tough personal journey, but Chris says reuniting with his old bandmates was easy because, despite the long years apart, there had never been any animosity.

“We remained good friends,” he explains. “That’s significant. After sitting in a room for three minutes it was obvious we all still got along.”

The band have all grown up in their time apart – Cornell has had three children, two marriages and one acrimonious divorce – but he insists that financial inducements didn’t play a part in Soundgarden’s comeback.

“In fact, once we got back together,” he says, “we had offers to play numerous festivals for millions of dollars but we turned them down.”

With its imposing genre-crossing authority, King Animal is set to propel them back into the limelight.

The signature Soundgarden style – heavy doom rock laced with bludgeoning Black Sabbath riffs – remains, but it’s now enriched by Cornell’s new life experience as a parent in typically blunt fashion on Bones Of Birds.

“It’s more of a paranoid version,” Chris smiles, “based on the haunting mystical images children have and adults remember.

“As a parent, you feel responsibility to protect children from things that will be difficult for them, but you can’t.

“To me, that brings out a desperate paranoid vision of the world as it’s rediscovered by another generation.”