Chris Cornell: The times Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman played the Midlands - with videos and review
Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell has died aged 52 it has been announced today.
The musician was a part of such successful rock acts as Soundgarden and Audioslave as well as his own solo work.
Cornell, who had been on tour, died on Wednesday night in Detroit, his representative Brian Bumbery said in a statement that his death was “sudden and unexpected” and said his wife and family were shocked.
The statement said the family would be working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause and asked for privacy.
Over the years, Cornell has wowed crowds across the world with his talented musicianship, including many shows within the Midlands.
We take a look over his history of music within the Midlands
April 9, 1990
Soundgarden, Louder Than Love Tour - Irish Centre, Birmingham
Supporting their second studio release Louder Than Love, Soundgarden headed to Europe for a second time to play Birmingham's Irish Centre.
The album spawned such hits as Loud Love and Hands All Over, and was their first album to place on the Billboard Top 200.
A month before touring Louder Than Love, bassist Hiro Yamamoto left to go back to college. He was replaced by Jason Everman, formerly of Nirvana
March 30, 1992
Soundgarden, Self-titled Tour - The Institute, Birmingham
A year after the release of Badmotorfinger, the follow-up release to Louder Than Love, Soundgarden returned to Birmingham to play The Institute.
Soundgarden had just returned from the US supporting Guns'N'Roses which was Soundgarden's first arena tour.
Following their month-long stint of shows in Europe, Soundgarden rejoined with Guns'N'Roses before playing Lollapalooze alongside Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Pearl Jame and Ministry among others.
April 14, 1994
Soundgarden, Superunknown Tour - Wolverhampton Civic Hall
Their first Wolverhampton appearance, Soundgarden played the Civic Hall as part of their Superunknown Tour.
Their fourth studio album Superunknown marked the creation of colossal single Black Hole Sun, alongside other hits such as The Day I Tried to Live, My Wave, Fell on Black Days and Spoonman.
Both Black Hole Sun and Spoonman won Grammy Awards and helped Soundgarden reach mainsream popularity.
September 18, 1996
Soundgarden, Down on the Upside Tour - Wolverhampton Civic Hall
Two years later, due to the success of their previous show, Soundgarden returned to Wolverhampton's Civic Hall - this time, in support of Down on the Upside.
Down on the Upside would end up becoming Soundgarden's final studio album for sixteen years as tensions within the band led to its break-up in April 1997.
June 1, 2003
Audioslave - Download Festival, Donnington Park
Rock supergroup Audioslave formed in 2001 and made their debut appearance at 2003's Download Festival.
The band featured Cornell on vocals a rhythm guitar as well as Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello on lead guitar, Tim Commerford on bass and Brad Wilk on drums.
In 2002, Audioslave released their debut self-titled album that they showcased at Download.
June 5, 2005
Audioslave - Wolverhampton Civic Hall
In support on their second studio album, Cornell returned to Wolverhampton with his brand new band.
Out of Exile had four singles released - Be Yourself, Your Time Has Come,m Doesn't Remind Me and Out of Exile - with Doesn't Remind Me being nominated for a Grammy Award.
September 4, 2007
Solo - Carling Academy, Birmingham
Chris Cornell first embarked on solo work in 1999, and in 2007 he released his second solo album Carry On - accompanied by an appearance at Birmingham's Carling Academy.
The album debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200, selling 37,000 copies in the United States.
Birmingham's Carling Academy closed in 2009.
June 13, 2009
Solo, Scream Tour - Download Festival, Donnington Park
2009 marked the release of Cornell's third studio album Scream, and his return to Download Festival.
Scream marked a departure from Cornell's usual style, with the exclusion of his signature guitar and rock elements in favour of electronic pop soundscapes.
Cornell played alongside the liked of Faith No More, Slipknot and Def Leppard
June 10, 2012
Soundgarden, European Tour - Download Festival, Donnington Park
Soundgarden announced that they would be re-uniting in 2010 - releasing new music in 2012 in the form of sixth studio album King Animal.
To mark the occasion, Soundgarden headed back to Download Festival alongside headliners The Prodigy, Metallica and Black Sabbath.
King Animal was the band's first album in sixteen years.
June 19, 2012
Solo, Songbook Tour - Birmingham Symphony Hall
Songbook was released in 2011 and was followed by a European tour that reached Birmingham's Symphony Hall.
Songbook is an acoustic live album that was recorded during Cornell's tour in America - and the show followed a similar intimate appearance with Cornelkl playing a variety of songs from across his career complete with anecdotes.
The album debuted at number 69 on the Billboard 200 list selling 89,000 copies as of August 2015.
September 14, 2013
Soundgarden, King Animal Tour - O2 Academy, Birmingham
After celebrating it's release at Download Festival, Soundgarden toured King Animal across the US and Europe.
This tour appeared at Birmingham's O2 Academy in 2013 with support from Graveyard.
May 2, 2016
Solo, Acoustic High Truth World Tour - Birmingham Symphony Hall
Cornell's final studio album Higher Truth was released in 2015 with his accompanying tour including a date at Birmingham's Symphony Hall.
Group entertainment editor Kirsten Rawlins attended this show, stating that "There was certainly a loved-up, warm atmosphere at the show as the audience - made of a large variety of ages - hung on Chris’ every word, cheering and crying out affectionate terms such as ‘we love you Chris!’ at each break in the show.
Read the full review here
This would turn out to be Cornell's last Midlands appearance.
