Following the tragic death of Soundgarden icon Chris Cornell, details have emerged of the late frontman’s funeral.
Cornell, also a solo artist and frontman for Audioslave, was found dead in his hotel room last week (May 17). He was aged just 52-years-old.
Now, as Associated Press reports, Cornell is set to be laid to rest at a private funeral service at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Friday May 26, according to attorney Kirk Pasich.
While Cornell’s death is being treated as a suicide, his family have claimed that prescription drugs may have contributed towards him taking his own life.
They said that “if Chris took his life, he did not know what he was doing, and that drugs or other substances may have affected his actions.” The statement adds: “Without the results of toxicology tests, we do not know what was going on with Chris – or if any substances contributed to his demise.” The statement also cites the side effects of anxiety medication Ativan to include “paranoid or suicidal thoughts, slurred speech and impaired judgement”.
Numerous tributes from the music world have poured in for Cornell following the tragic news, which included a poem written by the frontman’s Audioslave bandmate and Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello:
“You’re a prince, you’re a snare, you’re a shadow
You’re twilight and star burn and shade
You’re a sage, you’re a wound shared, you’re masked
You’re a pillar of smoke, you’re a platinum heart
You’re a brush fire, you’re caged, you’re free
Your vision pierces, you do not see
You are pieces strewn on the hillside
You’re open armed, you’re armed, you’re true
You’re a revealer of visions, you’re the passenger, you’re a never fading scar
You’re twilight and star burn and shade
You’re the secret veiled, you’re the secret revealed, you’re surrounded no more
You’re not there, now you’re always here
You’re a handsome groom, a loving father, a haunted stairwell
You’re the clear bell ringing, the mountains echo your song
Maybe no one has ever known you
You are twilight and star burn and shade
In the wake of Cornell’s passing, fans of the singer and frontman created a makeshift memorial at Seattle’s Sound Garden – where Cornell’s band derived their name – while the city’s famous Space Needle also went dark in tribute.
