Dear Chris,

“Now shine a light down onto the earth and shake this gold dust out, out of the dirt.” That’s my favorite lyric from a new song by you “When Bad Does Good” that was released this past year. In fact, Chris Cornell: An Artist’s Legacy came out on November 16th, 2018. It consisted of 65 tracks spread over four records – from early Soundgarden to Temple of the Dog to Audioslave to solo material, and everything in between. The last track is your cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You” where at the end you speak the words, “Thank you very much, really, I appreciate it.” I find that to be very appropriate given you have always been so gracious with your gifts of song. So, in sequence, the last thing we hear on the record is your voice and love… shining a light down.

Dear Chris, a few weeks ago my five-year-old daughter heard your version of “Thank You” randomly on Pandora. She asked my wife if that was me singing (I love you sweatheart, but c’mon!). Although she loves music, she doesn’t understand a ton about it yet, nor does she know that I used to play a bit many years before she was born. But nonetheless, it spurred my idea to write this because your inspiration is as vibrant as ever.

Dear Chris, while we’re talking about family – what yours has done this past year is absolutely amazing. Your wife Vicky is constantly spearheading incredible efforts towards admirable causes such as supporting IRC, EBMRF, hosting events for the NYSPCC, advancing your foundation and speaking up to help the world of addiction. It’s obvious that strength is contagious seeing your son Chris totally rock the video for the aforementioned “When Bad Does Good”, your daughter Toni sing “Redemption Song” on stage with Ziggy Marley and your daughter Lily deliver a heartfelt speech at your tribute concert. Speaking of which…

Dear Chris, this past January the world came together at the Forum in Los Angeles to honor you and your undeniable catalog. The tribute show was called I Am The Highway It was over four hours of your music performed by some of the greatest musicians on the planet. Like your Legacy record, it was curated by Vicky and your bandmates. Whether you were inside the venue or watching in from afar two things were certain – your impact will forever be to be immeasurable and your spirit transcendent. Then again, why am I telling you about this? You were there.

photo by: Paul Lorkowski

Dear Chris, Soundgarden continues to fire on all cylinders as well. Actually, just yesterday it was announced that there will be a Live From The Artists Den album and an immersive film to go along with it. That was the night you guys performed “Blind Dogs” for the first time. To commemorate the 35th anniversary, an Album of the Month series was created. Starting this past April, a different LP will be made available each month via a limited-edition colored vinyl. It kicked off with Superunknown pressed on 180-gram translucent red and gold vinyl to honor the 25th anniversary of that masterpiece album.

Dear Chris, 25 years of Superunknown really meant a lot to me. I found myself submersed in the record in a way that I can only describe as incredibly emotional. I was listening to an interview back in March with Peter Frampton. He so genuinely spoke of you and getting the chance to collaborate on a rendition of “Black Hole Sun” (for which he won a Grammy of course). Listening back to “Black Hole Sun” at this time moved me deeply, I felt things I never knew existed. It was beautiful. And difficult. And powerful. And meaningful. And… thank you.

Dear Chris, Soundgarden is still the most badass band name of all-damn-time.

Dear Chris, this was crazy… there was actually a “black hole” spotting in the universe. There’s now a fan-driven movement to have it named in your honor. To anyone who said “the first” capture of the black hole I simply said this: