Chris Cornell with Soundgarden Live in Sydney 2015 / Photo: Liam Cameron

Trent Reznor, Tom Morello And More Recall Last Memories Of Chris Cornell

The impact of the untimely passing of Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell is still being felt across the world of music, with the gravity of the loss continuing to hit home for many although it has been almost two weeks since news broke of his tragic death.

Tributes to the late Cornell began pouring in as soon as the news hit, and now a number of musicians have shared their final moments with him.

Rolling Stone spoke to Tom Morello of Audioslave, as well as Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and Sanj Tankian from System Of A Down, with the musicians each sharing treasured memories of their interactions with Cornell.

Audioslave bandmate Morello spoke of hanging out with Cornell after their band’s reunion show at the Anti-Inaugural Ball earlier this year.  “The last thing he said to me was, ‘I had such a great time. I would love to do this again. You just let me know,”’ recalls Morello. “I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s figure it out!’”

Morello also spoke of how much of an unexpected shock Cornell’s death was, speaking of another long chat the two had about the upcoming Soundgarden tour.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I don’t know what the phases of mourning are, but I’m in the first one. I still expect this to be some kind of mistake”, that Cornell will soon be in touch with a text or phone call where it’s ‘I’m cool. I’m so sorry. That was a scare. Everything is going to be all right.’”

Trent Reznor reflected on the co-headline tour that Nine Inch Nails did with Soundgarden in 2014, recalling that “The Chris I met on that tour was a gentleman that completely had his shit together,” before going on to call him “one of the 10 best vocalists of our time.”

System Of A Down frontman Serj Tanikan spoke of chatting with Cornell at the 70th Birthday celebrations for Elton John in March this year. He asked Chris if he was tired of touring, but he expressed pretty much the opposite.

“I’m really excited. I’m doing this tour with Soundgarden. I’ve got these other ideas.’ He had plans, man.”

Tom Morello and his Audioslave band-mates also performed an instrumental version of ‘Like A Stone’ in honour of Cornell at a rehearsal for Prophets Of Rage over the weekend.

If you or anyone close to you needs help or information regarding mental health, you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.

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