Alice In Chains honored Chris Cornell by covering Soundgarden’s “Boot Camp” at Rock on the Range on Friday. Friday was the one year anniversary of Cornell’s death, and Soundgarden were also set to play Rock on the Range one year ago prior to the tragedy. ‘CC’ and ‘SG’ flashed on the screen as the performance came to a close.
Alice In Chains members Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez discussed Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington’s deaths in a 2017 interview on The Rich Eisen Show.
Cantrell said, “It’s been a horrible year, and it’s really unfortunate to have lost those guys. But doing something positive in their name, because they were both great people, both very good friends, and both amazing talents. It still doesn’t seem real. It’s good to be able to have fun with our league, to be able to raise money, and to be able to give every year to a charity of the winner’s choice. The last couple of years we had been partnering with Linkin Park’s charity Music For Relief, so we’ve done a few years with those guys, so it just made sense to split it up, with Music For Relief for Chester, and I was already going to donate the money to MusiCares, and I thought it was appropriate to make that in Chester’s name.”
Eisen then asked Cantrell how Cornell and Bennington’s families were dealing with the tragic losses.
“They’re dealing. It’s just an unexpected thing. We’ve been through it personally, so we kind of know what that’s all about. All you can do is let everybody know that you love them, and be there for them, and continue on. Also to remember them in a good light, instead of a bad moment, because they had great lives, and they were quality people. So many landmark moments in life together with Chris, I didn’t know Chester as well, but we jammed with him and hung with him a bunch. We’ve done a lot of charity work with he and his band’s charity. It’s really sad to see that sort of thing happen, and just try to be there for them, and be supportive.”
“It’s hard to talk about too. It’s pretty fresh.”
Inez said, “The moral of the story, go to bed, make the call, go to bed. Think about it.”
Cantrell said, “I think everybody has dark thoughts. Depression and addiction, and many other issues, they’re all linked, I have some of them myself. I’m an alcoholic as well, so I’ve dealt with a lot of those issues myself, and we’ve lost a lot of friends and bandmates to that. There are a lot of people who get through, that deal, so I guess basically it’s trying to reach out to them, and be an example, of you can walk through that. Because a lot of people were there for us when we walked through our thing. It’s family, and it hurts, and I’m really going to miss them.”
Inez added, “To end on a bright note, [their] kids are fantastic. Amazing children, obviously they’ve got a lot of uncles in the world that can help raise them.”
