Ann Wilson: I wasn’t surprised by Chris Cornell’s death

(Image credit: Kevin Kane/WireImage - Getty)

Heart vocalist Ann Wilson says she wasn’t surprised to learn of Chris Cornell’s death.

The Soundgarden frontman died by suicide in Detroit in May 2017 at the age of 52, with Wilson going on to cover Audioslave's I Am The Highway on her solo album Immortal.

Speaking with SiriusXM about Cornell, Wilson said: “I was not surprised when he died. I don’t know why I say that, it’s just something that I feel from Chris. He was so complicated.

"He always struggled with mundanity. He was really in another dimension and for him to be normal was really hard.”

Speaking with Alternative Nation in March this year, Wilson explained why she had chosen to cover I Am The Highway out of all the material that Cornell recorded throughout his career.

She said: “The Audioslave number is my favourite Chris Cornell song. It’s just all about, I’m not the thing, I’m the bigger thing, I’m not your magic carpet ride in the sky. 

“It’s a really great song, it has a lot of particular meaning to me because Chris was my friend. The words in I Am The Highway talk about dissatisfaction, and alienation, and someone who is just on their way. 

“They’re not going to hang out with the friends and liars.”

On Friday last week, a video for Cornell’s track When Bad Does Good was released starring his son Christopher in the leading role.

On January 16, a tribute concert in memory of Cornell will be held at The Forum in Los Angeles. It’ll feature performances from the members of Soundgarden, Temple Of The Dog and Audioslave, plus Foo Fighters, Metallica and more.

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Chris Cornell Box Set

Chris Cornell Box Set
This new collection brings together choice cuts from the late Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple Of The Dog frontman's career and features a total of 88 tracks. Not to be missed.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald newspapers, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.