Chris Cornell, the lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave, has died aged 52.

His representative Brian Bumbery said Cornell died in Detroit on Wednesday night and called the death “sudden and unexpected”.

Detroit Police are investigating the death as a “possible suicide”.

Michael Woody, a spokesman for the Detroit Police Department, said Cornell’s body was found unresponsive in his hotel room.

“When the units arrived they were met by a gentleman who indicated that Chris Cornell had been found in his room,” he said.

“When officers went to the room they found Chris Cornell laying in his bathroom, unresponsive and he had passed away. We are investigating it as a possible suicide but we need to wait on the medical examiner to determine the cause and manner of death.”

Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Show all 18 1 /18 Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Singer Chris Cornell performs at Prophets of Rage and Friends' Anti Inaugural Ball at the Taragram Ballroom on January 20, 2017 in Los Angeles, California Kevin Winter/Getty Images Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Chris Cornell of Audioslave at the 2002 KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, CA. Saturday, December 7, 2002 Getty Images Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) The members of Audioslave pose backstage with VH1 Music & Talent Executive Vice President Rick Krim at the 'ReAct Now: Music & Relief' benefit concert at Paramount Studios on September 10, 2005 in Hollywood, California Getty Images Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Musician Chris Cornell of Audioslave and his daughter Toni sign a guitar donated by the band at the 'ReAct Now: Music & Relief' benefit concert at Paramount Studios on September 10, 2005 in Hollywood, California Amanda Edwards/Getty Images Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Musician Chris Cornell of the band Audioslave performs onstage at the VH1 Big In '05 Awards held at Stage 15 on the Sony lot on December 3, 2005 in Culver City, California Kevin Winter/Getty Images Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Musician Chris Cornell and his daughter attend the John Varvatos 4th Annual Stuart House Benefit at the John Varvatos Boutique on March 19, 2006 in West Hollywood, California David Livingston/Getty Images Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Singer Chris Cornell performs at Vegas Grand Prix-Friday Night Street Party on April 6, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada Bryan Haraway/Las Vegas Grand Prix via Getty Images Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Musician Chris Cornell and family attend the Conde Nast Media Group's Fifth Annual Fashion Rocks at Radio City Music Hall on September 5, 2008 in New York City Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Musician Chris Cornell performs on stage during Conde Nast's Fashion Rocks show in New York. Sept. 5, 2008 AP Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Chris Cornell of Soundgarden performs onstage and headlines the 2010 Lollapalooza festival in Grant Park on August 8, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois Photo by Roger Kisby/Getty Images Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Chris Cornell of Soundgarden performs onstage and headlines the 2010 Lollapalooza festival in Grant Park on August 8, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois Roger Kisby/Getty Images Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Musician/actor Chris Cornell of 'Machine Gun Preacher' poses for a portrait during 2011 Toronto Film Festival on September 9, 2011 in Toronto, Canada. Photo by Matt Carr/Getty Images Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Chris Cornell of Soundgarden performs on stage at Big Day Out 2012 at the Sydney Showground on January 26, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Soundgarden performs at Citi Presents Exclusive Soundgarden Performance Celebrating 20th Anniversary of 'Superunknown' at Webster Hall on June 2, 2014 in New York City Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Citi Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Kim Thayil, Chris Cornell, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd of Soundgarden visit SiriusXM Studios on June 2, 2014 in New York City Getty Images North America Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam and Chris Cornell perform during the 28th annual Bridge School Benefit at Shoreline Amphitheatre on October 26, 2014 in Mountain View, California Getty Images North America Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Musician Chris Cornell poses at Elton John's 70th Birthday and 50-Year Songwriting Partnership with Bernie Taupin benefiting the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the UCLA Hammer Museum at RED Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles, California. March 25, 2017 REUTERS Remembering Chris Cornell (1964 - 2017) Chris Cornell and family attend the New York Screening of 'The Promise' at The Paris Theatre on April 18, 2017 in New York City Getty Images North America

Officers reportedly received an emergency call requesting assistance from an unnamed person at the MGM Grand Casino in Detroit. Cornell was pronounced dead at the scene.

The singer's family have asked for privacy while they work with a medical examiner to determine the cause. Tributes to Cornell have flooded social media, including from Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry who called it “A sad loss of a great talent to the world”.

Cornell was best known for fronting his two bands and singing “You Know My Name”, the theme song for James Bond film Casino Royale. He was scheduled to play the US festival Rock On The Range in Columbus on Friday.

His final concert was with Soundgarden last night at Detroit’s Fox Theatre, part of the band’s latest North American headline tour.

Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Cornell was one of the chief architects of the grunge movement, forming Soundgarden alongside guitarist Kim Thyail and bassist Hiro Yamamoto in 1984.

Soundgarden were the first grunge band to sign to a major label (A&M Records in 1988), paving the way for the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains to break out.

After Soundgarden initially split up, Cornell formed Audioslave with Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk. Cornell left the supergroup in 2007 to concentrate on solo material before regrouping with Soundgarden in 2010.

Last year, Cornell spoke about how playing acoustically has tied together his entire career. “In some strange way, it’s made sense of my 30-odd years of songwriting,” he told The Independent.

“All the different bands and solo projects and everything in-between are all so varied and eclectic. I wanted to string all that together somehow in an acoustic show and I think it’s the first time that it can all be in one show and make sense."

Cornell struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for many years, checking into rehab in 2003. Speaking to Spin magazine at the time, he said: “I actually like rehab a lot. It’s like school; it’s interesting. I’m learning that I can be teachable at age 38.

“I would sometimes drink before we played. It wasn’t a big deal. It became a bigger deal when I stopped doing the other things I liked to do.”