Mourning Chris Cornell: 'Part of Seattle died today'

Mourners process the death of Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell during a memorial for the musician at KEXP's Gathering Place in Seattle on May 18, 2017. Mourners process the death of Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell during a memorial for the musician at KEXP's Gathering Place in Seattle on May 18, 2017. Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY, SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY, SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 50 Caption Close Mourning Chris Cornell: 'Part of Seattle died today' 1 / 50 Back to Gallery

Chris Cornell is gone, and while his death likely won't have the kind of national impact Kurt Cobain's did at the height of Nirvana's popularity in 1994, Cornell's departure might have a deeper impact on Seattle's psyche.

That's because the city is mourning not only Cornell, but a part of itself.

A Seattle native who graduated from Shorewood High School and worked as a fish monger and a line cook at Ray's Boathouse before making it big as Soundgarden's frontman, Cornell's rise mirrored -- and predated -- the city's. Seattle's current Amazon Prime two-day-shipping pace of change might explain why Thursday felt like a particularly dark day.

"I think Seattleites are dealing with a lot of change in this city, especially in the arts and the music community," KEXP disc jockey John Richards said. "To have that connection to the past gone, I felt like part of Seattle died today."

Wednesday night, Emily Clapper dreamed she was sobbing over the loss of somebody she didn't know. Then she woke up and saw the news about Cornell, someone who felt like a friend after decades of listening to his music.

Clapper left her home in North Seattle and picked up a bouquet of flowers, dropping off half at Seattle Center's International Fountain -- site of Cobain's memorial more than two decades ago -- and bringing the other half to the studios at KEXP, where she sat listening to Cornell as the station devoted the entire day to playing his music.

Clapper was emblematic of the crowd gathering at the iconic radio station's large, open "Gathering Place" throughout the day before a memorial service. While many of the fans publicly mourning Cobain's death in 1994 were flannel-clad teenagers, some of the hundreds who gathered at KEXP Thursday night brought their children, a testament to Cornell's decades-long career in rock and roll. Still, Clapper couldn't help but hearken back to her younger self.

"Today has brought out the young teen," she said. "That's how it feels. It's brought me back to that age of growing up and learning who you are in the world."

The grief on Thursday felt more mature, if no less painful. Josh Russell of Ballard, who moved to Seattle from Florida in large part because of his love of grunge music, said decades of life experience has helped him engage with Cornell's loss on a different level.

"Back when it was Kurt, at our age we couldn't understand his suffering and what he was going through. So it just seemed like there was that anger, that selfishness from us at that age back then," Russell said. "And now, everybody's had shitty days. I think you can process the lyrics a lot more at our age. It's definitely a different feel. More of an understanding and more of a celebration thing rather than being pissed off at everything."

Russell brought flowers by the KEXP studios in the afternoon after processing Cornell's death by listening to Richards and fellow DJ Cheryl Waters play Cornell's music and talk about his loss throughout the morning. The station became the city's epicenter of mourning, which is why Richards threw together an impromptu memorial service.

"Some people will not understand the death of an artist, the grief process that you go through, because it's so unique," Richards said. "It's a different kind of grief, and it's one people need a green light to feel. We're trying to give them a green light to grieve an artist who's gone. You can feel like you lost a friend, even if to some that doesn't make sense."

At the service, Richards spoke briefly before beckoning the crowd to pay tribute to Cornell with an ear-splitting, chill-inducing scream of, "Chris!" That preceded a moment of silence that was broken by the hisses and pops of a vinyl record of Temple of the Dog's "Say Hello 2 Heaven." The song was Cornell's tribute to former roommate and Mother Love Bone frontman Andrew Wood, whose 1990 overdose death galvanized the young Seattle rock scene and eventually led to the formation of Temple of the Dog and Pearl Jam, but it took on an additional meaning in the immediate aftermath of Cornell's death.

Clapper returned to KEXP Thursday evening with her 11-year-old son Kaden to show him "mom isn't the only one crying" and connect him to a community that lost part of itself.

"There is something unique to growing up in this part of the world, music-wise, weather-wise," Clapper said. "We all identify with the area and its beauty and its creativity and its artistic nature. The way he wrote and the way he played music was, I think for us, being Seattleites; it was like an identity coming out through his music."

Seattlepi.com reporter Stephen Cohen can be reached at 206-448-8313 or stephencohen@seattlepi.com. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @scohenPI.