THE last man to see lead singer of Audioslave and Soundgarden Chris Cornell alive has revealed chilling new details of the singing legend’s death.

Bodyguard Martin Kirsten saw the 52-year-old rock star moments before his hotel death last week, police papers reveal.

Mr Kirsten — who previously dated Heidi Klum — helped the singer fix his computer and gave him two Ativan sleeping pills, The Sun reports.

But the security guard had to kick in two hotel doors after receiving a panicked call from Cornell’s wife, Vicky Karayiannis, who reported the singer slurring his words in a final phone call.

Mr Kirsten says he found the star lying on the bathroom floor, “with blood running from his mouth”, according to the police report.

Papers obtained by The Detroit News claim that after finishing his last show at 11.30pm on Wednesday night, Cornell was escorted to his room at the Detroit’s MGM Grand hotel by Mr Kirsten.

Ms Karayiannis said: “When we spoke after the show, I noticed he was slurring his words; he was different.

“When he told me he may have taken an extra Ativan or two, I contacted security and asked that they check on him.”

A lawyer for the family has since confirmed Cornell took Ativan for anxiety, police reports reveal.

The family of the musician, who struggled with addiction before seeking treatment in 2002, dispute the cause of death — instead suspecting that he suffered adverse effects from either Ativan or other substances.

Kirk Pasich, a lawyer for the family, said: “Without the results of toxicology tests, we do not know what was going on with Chris — or if any substances contributed to his demise.

“Chris, a recovering addict, had a prescription for Ativan and may have taken more Ativan than recommended dosages.

“The family believes 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.”

Ativan has been said to give users suicidal thoughts if taken in a high dosage.

A police spokesman told two Detroit newspapers that the singer was found dead in his room — just an hour after finishing his final haunting song, which in an eerie twist it appears heavily referenced death.

According to the set list, which was posted online by fans, the final song of the performance was the 1991 classic Slaves And Bulldozers.

But the live version contains a refrain from the death fixated gospel song In My Time Of Dying, which was famously covered by Led Zeppelin.

The lyrics contain the phrase: “In my time of dying, I want nobody to mourn. All I want for you to do is take my body home. Well, well, well, so I can die easy.”

He also updated his Facebook page just hours earlier with a song Soundgarden released in 2012 called By Crooked Steps.

Along with the clip he posted the lyrics: “I’m the shape of the hole inside your heart.”

Many will read into these final public acts which appear to be loaded with symbolism of death as police investigate.

Spokesman Brian Bumbery said: “His wife Vicky and family were shocked to learn of his sudden and unexpected passing.

“They would like to thank his fans for their continuous love and loyalty and ask that their privacy be respected at this time.”

The statement added that the family would be working with a medical examiner to determine the cause and asked for privacy.

Fans who watched him with the re-formed Soundgarden last night have tweeted a mixture of praise and disbelief at learning of his death.

He was born Christopher John Boyle in 1964 in the city that would come to be known as the home of grunge, Seattle, Washington.

The middle child of five siblings, two older brothers and two younger sisters, Cornell spent the ages of nine to 11 solidly listening to the Beatles.

A loner in his teenage years he dropped out of school due to depression before joining cover band The Shemps with two future founding members of the band with which he would fist make his name, Soundgarden.

The grunge band formed in 1984 with Cornell as frontman backed up by Hiro Yamamoto and Kim Thayill and eventually joined by Matt Cameron on drums.

Ben Shepherd would eventually replace Yamamoto on bass guitar in 1990 when the group would rocket to stardom.

With his powerful, nearly four-octave vocal range, Soundgarden, would emerged as one of the biggest bands out of Seattle’s emerging music scene, joining the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains.

Their third studio album, “Badmotorfinger” in 1991 spawned enormously popular singles “Jesus Christ Pose,” ‘’Rusty Cage” and “Outshined” that received regular play on alternative rock radio stations.

Cornell would compose and perform the song “You Know My Name” which was only the second song not to have the same title as the movie and the first theme performed by an American man.

In tandem with his successful solo career, which would see him release five studio albums, he also formed the supergroup Audioslave.

That would see the unification of two of the biggest rock bands of the nineties, Cornell’s Soundgarden and Rage Against The Machine.

After Rage’s frontman Zach de la Rocha left the band they were searching for a new singer and found Cornell in 2001 who would shelve his second album plans to form the band.

Their self titled debut album would spawn such hits as Cochise, Like A Stone and Show Me How To Live and would go triple platinum in the USA.

The band would remain together until 2007 when Cornell left due to “irresolvable personality conflicts and musical differences”.

Soundgarden would eventually reform and tour together again in 2010 and reportedly had plans for a seventh album.

Audioslave reunited for the first time in January this year at the Prophets of Rage Anti-Inaugural Ball, protesting Donald Trump’s presidency.

In his personal life he would first marry Soundgarden and Alice In Chains manager Susan Silver in 1990.

The couple would have one daughter, Lillian James Cornell, together in June 2000.

Cornell and Silver would eventually divorce in 2004 and later that year he would marry publicist Vicky Karayiannis, an American living in France.

That same year the newlyweds would have a daughter, Toni and later in 2005 a son called Christopher Nicholas.

The relationship would also see Cornell convert to Greek Orthodox Christianity under his new wife’s influence.

In 2012 Cornell spoke about kicking alcohol. He said: “There are not bottles of Jack Daniels around or beers.”

He added: “You have top want it, and not do that c*** anymore or you will never stop and it will just kill you.”

Cornell said of his descent that “it was a long slow slide and then a long slow recovery,” adding, “for me it was mostly alcohol from my late teens until my late thirties.”

In addition to his music, Cornell also became involved in philanthropy and started the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation to support children facing challenges, including homelessness, poverty, abuse and neglect.

This story originally appeared in The Sunand was reproduced here with permission.

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or go to beyondblue.org.au