Brandi Carlile wants to be Soundgarden’s new vocalist

(Image credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Chris Cornell Estate)

Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile has offered her services to the surviving members of Soundgarden, saying that she “would make the time” to tour with the band.

Born in Ravensdale, Washington, a rural town south of Seattle, Carlile has made no secret of her love for grunge, and has previously recorded a two track EP, A Rooster Says, covering Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun and Searching With My Good Eye Closed, with the surviving members of the band, guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Ben Shepherd and drummer Matt Cameron, having first performed with the trio at the I Am The Highway: A Tribute To Chris Cornell concert in Los Angeles in 2019.

A Rooster Says was released on September 26, 2020 as part of last year’s Record Store Days celebrations.

At the time of the EP’s release, both Matt Cameron and Kim Thayil sang Carlile’s praises, and suggested that they could be open to further collaborations with the singer.

“We felt honoured that she asked us to take part in her Record Store Day project,” Cameron told Rolling Stone. “We had a blast. I think most people assume the three of us over and done with since Chris passed away, but that’s not the case. It’s nice to know that people still want to hear us play together.”

During Carlile’s August 14 performance at the The Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington state, she was joined onstage by Cameron, Thayil and Shepherd for powerful performances of Black Hole Sun and Searching with My Good Eye Closed.

In the latest episode of the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, Carlile put herself forward as a candidate to front the band in tandem with her own successful career.

“I am such a Chris Cornell fan,” she states. “I loved him so much. I was so devastated when he left us.”

In 2019, Kim Thayil revealed his hopes that he, Cameron and Shepherd would have the opportunity to complete work on the last demos they recorded with Chris Cornell.

“It was demos,” the guitarist said, “but the demo quality was pretty good, because both Chris and Matt Cameron had become very interested in their home recording technique, so they might demo a song, and then Ben Shepherd and I would add our guitars or bass.”

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