Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins discussed emailing back and forth with Chris Cornell in a new BBC Radio interview.
“My rock god is Chris Cornell, whom sadly we don’t have anymore, which is really, really a bummer; I’m really bummed that I don’t get to see a Soundgarden show ever again.
“They were a great, amazing band – Matt Cameron’s one of the greatest drummers to walk the planet Earth, and Chris Cornell was so powerful and beautiful-looking and -sounding.
“His voice was unbelievable, his range was unbelievable, his lyrics were thought-provoking, dark, mysterious.
“And I’d send him a track every once in a while and he’d listen to it, and really give me feedback on it. And I’m thinking, ‘Well, Chris Cornell doesn’t need to do that. He’s just being a sweetheart.’
“They were that first band to have the chops of a band like – dare I say Rush or Yes or something like that, prog chops, but they weren’t a prog-rock band, they were a punk-rock band.
“Cornell could sing as low as Lou Reed or Bowie and then all of a sudden he could be up in the stratosphere as Dio or frickin’ Axl Rose or whatever.
“He had this range, and the band had a range. So, Chris Cornell is who I pick as my rock god right now and I miss him dearly.” Ultimate-Guitar transcribed his comments.
