I woke up this morning to discover that Chris Cornell, lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave, died last night. He was 52.
Soundgarden was one of the creators of grunge music that came out of Seattle in the early 1990’s. Nirvana and Pearl Jam were more well known, but Soundgarden was by far my favorite.
It still is. There was something about the music Soundgarden produced. It had a unique raw energy created by lead guitarist Kim Thayil, coupled with Cornell’s dynamic voice.
When I first got my hands on Badmotorfinger, is was the only album I listened to. If it was possible to wear out a CD, I would have worn out my copy of Badmotorfinger.
I haven’t been to many concerts, but I was lucky enough to see Soundgarden in 2013. They played at the DAR Constitution Hall in nearby Washington DC. They sounded as great as they had when I first heard them in 1991 on CD.
I was overcome with emotion when they began playing Rusty Cage. There I was listening to my favorite band play one of my favorite songs live and in person. Standing next to me was my wife Sheri, the love of my life and my best friend. Sheri is my only true friend. Sheri is the only friend I will ever want or need.
It was as though I was standing in a convergence of pure, unadulterated contentment.
It was a powerful feeling.