Heart’s Ann Wilson and Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell have paid tribute to Chris Cornell, performing a moving rendition of Soundgarden’s ‘Black Hole Sun’ at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony over the weekend.
Cantrell said the collaboration came about after Wilson called him, asking to do “something for our friend” at the ceremony.
“Ann called me and said she was thinking about doing something for our friend and asked me if I would join her. And anytime she calls, I’m there. And if it’s for Chris, of course, absolutely.”
Watch the rousing performance below:
During the Rock Hall press conference, Cantrell opened up to reporters about his friendship with Cornell, mentioning how he admired his work ethic and talent.
“Chris was a friend for many years and an incredible artist, a wonderful human being. And I’ve always been inspired by his work ethic and talent, and his band, Soundgarden, they were a big influence on us.”
He continued to build on how he hasn’t quite yet come to terms with how to process the loss, saying that it may be time to focus on the type of man and artist he was.
“It’s obviously very sad. I still don’t really know how to really discuss it personally, but I think at this point it’s time to maybe focus on the type of man that he was and the type of human being and the type of artist.”
Cantrell also continued to elaborate on the impact Soundgarden had on Alice In Chains, describing the camaraderie of the grunge scene in general.
“He had incredible depth. Our bands helped each other in the early days. We were all under the same roof, with Susan Silver managing them, Kelly Curtis managing Mother Love Bone and then Pearl Jam, and they jointly managed us. We were all in the same little office above the central tavern, and that was home base. I’m gonna miss him immensely, but I also celebrate his life and his life’s work.”
Over the weekend Cantrell shared details surrounding the release of Alice In Chains’ next album, the follow up to their 2013 effort The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, saying it would see a release “sometime this summer”.
He also described the sound of the album, saying “there’s some really heavy shit, some really ugly stuff, some real beautiful stuff, some weirdo trippy shit… it’s good!”
