Chris Cornell’s death ruled “suicide by hanging”

Chris Cornell: 1964-2017
Chris Cornell: 1964-2017

A coroner has confirmed that Chris Cornell died by suicide in his Detroit hotel room on Wednesday night.

The 52-year-old Soundgarden frontman was found dead at the city’s MGM Grand after playing a show with the band earlier that evening at the Fox Theatre.

The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office, who carried out the autopsy on Cornell, have ruled his death as “suicide by hanging.”

The office say in a statement: “The Medical Examiner has completed the autopsy on 52-year-old Chris Cornell, the Soundgarden musician who died last night in Detroit.

“The cause of death has been determined as suicide by hanging. A full autopsy report has not yet been completed. There is no additional information at this time.”

According to the Detroit Free Press, the singer’s body was discovered after Cornell’s wife called a family friend and asked them to check on Cornell. The friend then forced their way into the hotel room, where he discovered Cornell’s body on the floor.

Cornell was pronounced dead in the room.

Tributes from around the music world have flooded in for the Soundgarden frontman, with his friend and Audioslave band mate Tom Morello saying he’s been left devastated by the news.

Chris Cornell live review – London Royal Albert Hall

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 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 maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to 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.