Soundgarden’s Superunknown producer Michael Beinhorn wrote the following on Facebook in reaction to Chris Cornell’s death the day it happened, “Oh my fucking God. I am sitting up at 4 am and literally mortified beyond all capacity to express myself. I have met and worked with a great many extraordinary and talented individuals but there are only a precious few I would say that I’d been lucky to be in the same room with. Chris was one of those people- the rarest of rarities who- without any degree of exaggeration- had absolutely everything going for him. Watching him work all those years ago when we made Superunknown, there were times when I couldn’t help but feel that I was watching the clockwork of divinity operating within a mortal shell.
It was as if Icarus had ascended effortlessly into the skies and the gods, enrapt by the stunning beauty of the very gifts they had conferred upon him, had permitted him to continue his ascent instead of melting off his wings and hurling him back to earth. For this reason alone, his sudden and shockingly unexpected passing is a most poignant reminder to us all how fleeting and ephemeral such extraordinary human brilliance truly is and how we are duty-bound to celebrate it when we see it rise up in a human form.
I have not interacted with him for years, but this morning, the world feels empty and desolate, as if a great hole has been torn out of it. There is so much gratitude in me for the time that we worked together, but at this moment, I can only feel saddened and shattered. I mourn, not only for Chris, but for his family, his musical partners and for the rest of the world which has lost his light and will never see it’s like again in this life.”
Courtney Love responded, “I’ve been thinking of you all day . The very reason I sought you out was super unknown- and chris such a gent . So lovely always to me . Not like the other boys . I’m bummed and saddened for his family and band . So sorry Micheal . X”
Beinhorn wrote back, “Thanks, Courtney- that means a lot. The world has gone dark again, for the moment.”
