May 18th marks three years since the music world lost the much loved and lauded Chris Cornell. But the online theories into his death and the ongoing court battles between band and widow just won’t go away.

As the three year anniversary of Chris Cornell’s tragic death arrives, the fallout for both the Cornell family and the remaining members of Soundgarden remains messy, to say the least.

Last week it was reported Soundgarden were suing Chris’s widow Vicky Cornell for withholding the proceeds from last year’s Soundgarden tribute show.

The concert was held in January 2019 with all three Soundgarden members paying homage to Chris along with Metallica, Foo Fighters, Ryan Adams as well as members of Audioslave and Temple of the Dog.

The court documents allege that the Soundgarden members are suing Vicki Cornell for “fraudulent inducement” for allegedly using revenue intended to be raised for charity for “personal purposes for herself and her family.” The suit goes on to mention that the recipients of the revenue from the Chris Cornell tribute benefit concert “have not been identified.”

It has been a continuing drama since the late Soundgarden front man died, with Vicki Cornell also filing a lawsuit against the remaining members of the band for ownership of unreleased material in 2018.

Chris Cornell’s reported suicide on May 18th 2017, was a massive shock to most, but prominent media personality Howard Stern refuses to believe he took his own life. It’s a position Stern has frequently repeated on his XM Radio show, of which Cornell was a frequent guest.

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“He didn’t kill himself. No way. There’s no way someone who can sing like that and looks like that is going to kill themselves. It’s impossible.”

It’s a theory shared by many Cornell fans, who refuse to believe the vocalist died by suicide and they share their somewhat interesting points of views on all social media platforms.

Fans point out that before his death, Cornell was a major financial backer in a film about child sex trafficking called The Silent Children. There’s not much online about the film, but there is a website and despite repeated attempts by various researchers to contact the film makers, we are no closer as to the verification of this claim.

We do know that Chris was an advocate for at-risk children and in 2012 set up the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation whereby proceeds of various shows would be forwarded to children’s charities and organisations Chris was passionate about.

In this 2013 tweet, Chris talks about selling his custom Harley to ‘benefit the most vulnerable children’.

The question asked by many fans is, was Chris about to expose details of an elite pedophile ring or leak information about unspeakable things he had discovered through his foundation? Was he murdered to prevent going public about some of his findings?

This theory is further played out in the trailer of a new independent documentary called Louder than Love (named after the Soundgarden song), which the film makers say aims to ‘expose the murder of Chris Cornell and its links to his child sex trafficking investigation and the greed of some of his loved ones.’

Check out an extended preview of Louder than Love:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDibFj5ns4Q&t=2638s

Whilst the hour long trailer (we’re told the film is coming soon), relies heavily on visual clues rather than strong evidence from anyone official or from the Cornell and Soundgarden camps, the makers have pieced together their ideas of what may have happened to Cornell.

They cast doubt on the official ‘suicide by hanging’ theory. Cornell was found in his Detroit hotel room with a red exercise band around his neck which according to Wayne County Medical Officers, was used to self-strangulate. The conspiracy theories range from ‘there was too much blood at the scene’ to be a suicide, to implying that the colour of the exercise band signifies a cult death murder symbol.

Check out one of the videos on the Chris Cornell conspiracy theory:

https://youtu.be/8M_CsjjK4tU

Cornell’s longtime friend and Audioslave band mate Tom Morello has discounted all the conspiracy theories, saying in an October 2017 interview, “The only sinister hand [at work in his passing] was his lifelong addiction that finally caught up with him.”

It’s the same view shared by Soundgarden band mate Kim Thayil who in 2018 referred to the conspiracy theories as ‘cockamamie ideas.’

But Cornell’s family did initially question the medical examiner’s ruling, admitting Chris had a prescription for Ativan and that a ‘higher than recommended dose’ may have contributed to suicidal thoughts.

Vicky Cornell sued Chris’s doctor in 2018, claiming the medico over-prescribed the tablet Lorazepam in the last few years of his life. Dr Robert Koblin refuted the claim and insisted he had nothing to do with Chris’s 2017 death.

Meanwhile, Vicky and remaining Soundgarden members battle it out in the courts over money, royalties and Vicky’s alleged control over the Soundgarden social media accounts which the band claims they never allowed her to manage. Yes, Vicky Cornell posts under both the Soundgarden and Chris Cornell Instagram accounts which the band are locked out of.

Incidentally, the date for the next court hearing for Soundgarden vs Cornell is May 18, 2020 at 3.30pm.

Chris Cornell once said, “There’s something about losing friends… where it’s not something that you get over. I don’t believe there’s a healing process.”

Beyond the far and wide speculations about his untimely death, the sad truth is that Cornell’s contributions to music are unrivalled and those who truly loved him will probably never fully heal.

Check out ‘Black Hole Sun’ by Soundgarden:

YouTube VideoPlay

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