Last month, it was announced that Soundgarden will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame later this year. Since frontman Chris Cornell passed away in 2017, fans have been speculating over who may step in and sing for the band during their induction ceremony.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, guitarist Kim Thayil spoke a bit about Soundgarden’s potential performance and who may sing in place of Cornell.
“It’s up to the Hall to how they develop their program, but we would love to play there,” Thayil said. “Our discussions haven’t gone that deep yet, but you could probably look at the people that [drummer] Matt [Cameron], [bassist] Ben [Shepherd], and I have played with over the past handful of years, going back to the Chris Cornell Tribute Concert in 2019, there’s a few people we’ve performed with who on top of our head would be the first ones for the call.”
“I think the best I can say is look at the people we’ve worked with over the past five years,” Thayil added. “Then I take a note from what Nirvana did when they went in and they had three or four different singers [who] performed with them. I think it’s going to be something like that.”
Soundgarden’s set at Cornell’s 2019 tribute concert featured several vocalists filling in for the frontman including Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless, Marcus Durant, Brandi Carlile, and the now late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
The night also featured performances by Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, Melvins, Metallica, Miley Cyrus, Chris Stapleton, Chris Cornell’s daughter Toni Cornell, and many more.
Recently, Soundgarden’s remaining members Thayil, Cameron, and Shepherd reunited and performed at a benefit concert with local Seattle singer Shaina Shepherd under the anagram Nudedragons.
As Thayil mentioned, Nirvana’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony featured guest vocalists Joan Jett, Lorde, St. Vincent, and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon in place of the late Kurt Cobain.
