Soundgarden

Soundgarden, American alternative rock group that was one of the forerunners of the grunge genre that came out of Seattle in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Grunge became especially popular with members of Generation X, who came of age during this time. The band was led by singer Chris Cornell, whose powerful voice, The New York Times observed, “could quickly shift from a soulful howl to a gritty growl.”

Origins

The band was formed in 1984 by Cornell, bassist Hiro Yamamoto, and guitarist Kim Thayil. In addition to singing, Cornell initially played drums, before Scott Sundquist joined the band and took over drumming duties. The lineup changed over the next few years: Sundquist was replaced by Matt Cameron in 1986, and, after Yamamoto left in 1989, first Jason Everman and finally Ben Shepherd became the bass player. Soundgarden was one of several Seattle bands to find a national following in the United States in this era, along with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains; Soundgarden was the first of these groups to sign with a major record label, joining A&M Records in 1988. The music of these groups was influenced by ’70s heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath.

Soundgarden’s first few releases, including the debut single “Hunted Down” (1987) and album Ultramega OK (1988), were with independent labels. These elevated the band’s profile, as did the song “Flower” getting airtime on MTV. Following Ultramega OK’s release, Soundgarden toured Europe and the United States, and the album was nominated for best metal performance at the 32nd Grammy Awards.

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Peak years

In 1989 Soundgarden released the album Louder Than Love with A&M. The decision to ink a deal with a major record label left some fans unhappy, but overall it increased the band’s popularity. Louder Than Love was followed by Badmotorfinger in 1991 and then Superunknown in 1994. The latter went platinum and included the hit songs “Black Hole Sun” and “Spoonman,” both of which won Grammy Awards. Their next album, Down on the Upside, came out in 1996. In addition, Soundgarden’s song “Birth Ritual” was featured on the soundtrack of the 1992 movie Singles.

Despite their success in this period, Cornell discussed his disenchantment with the commercialization of the Seattle sound in an interview with Rolling Stone in 1994, saying, “All of a sudden you realize that it’s turned into something that’s considered a fashion statement. It’s like mining. It’s like somebody came into your city with bulldozers and water compressors and mined your own perfect mountain and excavated it and threw out what they didn’t want and left the rest to rot. It’s that bad.”

Soundgarden broke up in 1997, and Cornell became the lead singer of the band Audioslave while also pursuing a solo career. During this time Cornell, who had said that he was a daily drug user as a teen, started using heavy drugs again. Audioslave disbanded in 2007, and three years later Soundgarden announced a reunion. The band came out with a new album, King Animal, in 2012.

Cornell’s death

In 2017, when Soundgarden was on tour, Cornell died by suicide just hours after the band performed a show in Detroit. Two years later his widow, Vicky Cornell, sued the surviving band members over the ownership of seven unreleased recordings made before his death. The lawsuit was settled in 2023, and in 2025 bass player Shepherd wrote in a social media post on the eighth anniversary of Cornell’s death that he had been reminded of an unreleased song by Cornell and drummer Matt Cameron, “The Road Less Traveled.” Shepherd said that the song is “for our album that has yet to be named. Just hearing Chris’ voice helps, I know he did that for everyone he knew.”

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Hall of Fame

Soundgarden was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, joining fellow grunge acts Nirvana and Pearl Jam, who were inducted during the 2010s. The induction ceremony will take place in November 2025. “Soundgarden ignited the grunge movement that radically changed rock & roll in the 1980s and 1990s,” according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s website. “The band’s raw power came out of the Northwest and flew in the face of a disconnected world, giving fans what they had long desired: a voice and a sense of belonging. A unique combination of alternative, metal, and punk, Soundgarden’s compelling sound cemented their place in music history.”