Originally posted on 05/18/2017:

So sad, this guy was one of the GREATS!

Here's my little eulogy I posted on Facebook today:

RIP, Chris Cornell, one of the greats and gone WAY too young at 52. Lest some lump him in as just another grunge-era singer/guitarist, he was not. He was much more. There was a richness to Soundgarden's music that always eluded their contemporaries. While their sound derived from Zeppelin and Sabbath (with a bit of punk rock sewn into the mix), Chris and his bandmates' songwriting was unique. (Hell, you have to be unique to invent a genre!) Maybe it was the alternate tunings, the unusual time signatures... certainly there was that incredible voice of his -- which married so well with Rage Against the Machine's equally landmark sound in Audioslave years later -- but whatever the case, Soundgarden's music was always instantly recognizable, and their albums met the most important criterium there is: They *rewarded repeated listens.* I will miss this guy dearly.