After Chris Cornell passed away in 2017, the future of his band Soundgarden was, understandably, in doubt. A reunion did not seem likely, but the group made one very special exception last night at “I Am The Highway,” a tribute concert held in honor of Cornell at The Forum in Los Angeles. The band performed an eight-song set at the event, with help from a variety of singers swapping off lead vocal duties.
The group was joined by Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins, Brandi Carlile, Peter Frampton, Buzz Osborne, Tom Morello, Wayne Kramer, Taylor Momsen, and Marcus Durant for a set that started with “Rusty Cage” and concluded with Carlile and Frampton joining the band on their most famous song, “Black Hole Sun.” This was the first time the band performed together as Soundgarden since Cornell’s passing.
When asked last October if Soundgarden would ever continue under that name, Kim Thayil said, “No, I don’t think that’s anything we’d give reasonable consideration to at this point. When I say ‘at this point,’ I mean perhaps ever [laughs].” […] I don’t know really what kind of thing is possible or what we would consider in the future. It’s likely nothing. The four of us were that. There were four of us and now there’s three of us, so it’s just not likely that there’s much to be pursued other than the catalog work at this point.”
However, Matt Cameron said at around the same time, “We’re just still taking our time and giving ourselves space to process everything. We would certainly love to try to continue to do something, figure out something to do together.”
Find Soundgarden’s setlist below, and watch some fan-shot clips from the set above and below.
1. “Rusty Cage” (with Taylor Momsen)
2. “Flower” (with Marcus Durant)
3. “Outshined” (with Marcus Durant)
4. “Drawing Flies” (with Taylor Momsen)
5. “Loud Love” (with Taylor Momsen, Tom Morello, and Wayne Kramer)
6. “I Awake” (with Taylor Hawkins and Buzz Osborne)
7. “The Day I Tried To Live” (with Taylor Hawkins and Buzz Osborne)
8. “Black Hole Sun” (with Brandi Carlile and Peter Frampton)
