Soundgarden Members Talk Final Album and RRHOF Performance Guests

Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil and drummer Matt Cameron offered some insight into the band’s final album, which they’re working to finish after a lengthy legal battle with the late Chris Cornell‘s estate. They also revealed who will join them at their upcoming Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction and performance.

“It’s a massive emotional roller coaster. A lot of highs, a lot of lows,” Cameron told The Seattle Times. “The highs are based on the fact that the music is seeing its light of day, it’s coming to life. Some of it feels like it could have been a new chapter in songwriting for the group, so that’s super bittersweet. But it’s been challenging to work on some of this music, soloing up Chris’ vocals and hearing that beautiful voice come through the speakers all on its own.”

“The delay in the process was damaging in some ways to the emotive nature of the experience,” Thayil added. “Certainly, it’s great that we’re doing it now. I’m wondering — because you can’t help but wonder — how that emotive and creative journey might have been undertaken six, seven, eight years ago. You will never know that, and there’s something unfortunate (and) damaging about that. But there’s something also beneficial about that because we’re doing it now, and it’s beautiful. It’s a way to post tribute to our beloved brother. All of it just has that much more weight emotionally and creatively, and we don’t take that lightly.”

How Soundgarden and the Chris Cornell Estate Finally Reached a Resolution

The surviving members of Soundgarden were previously locked in a yearslong legal dispute with Cornell’s widow, Vicky Cornell. She sued the band and accused them of withholding royalties owed to Cornell’s family in December 2019, two and a half years after the singer died by suicide at age 52.

The initial lawsuit described an “unlawful attempt to strong-arm Chris’ Estate into turning over certain audio recordings created by Chris before he passed away.”

In 2023, however, Soundgarden and Cornell’s estate announced they had “reached an amicable out-of-court resolution” that would “allow Soundgarden fans around the world to hear the final songs that the band and Chris were working on.” Cameron revealed in late 2023 that the dispute was not, in fact, over, but as of this year, the band seemed committed and prepared to release the music.

Soundgarden Preparing All-Star, Seattle-Centric Performance for Rock Hall Induction

Past and present members of Soundgarden —Cameron, Thayil, current bassist Ben Shepherd and original bassist Hiro Yamamoto — will perform at next week’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony when they enter the hallowed institution. They’ll be joined by fellow Seattleites Brandi Carlile (who performed at the 2019 Cornell tribute concert), Heart‘s Nancy Wilson, Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell and Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready. Taylor Momsen, lead singer of the Pretty Reckless, will also join them.

“To have our peers, friends and creative collaborators from [Seattle] share that with us is very important,” Thayil said. “It’s very important because it’s part of our identity. We’re not simply ‘rock guys’ in this band Soundgarden. We’re rock guys in this band Soundgarden that helped establish the Seattle scene and the sound. The geography is very important to our identity. It’s where we are, it’s where we came from. It’s who we are.”