Howard Stern has managed to get a Soundgarden scoop ahead of the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The surviving members of Bad Company have announced that they will perform as part of their induction. Additionally, during her appearance on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show on Wednesday, October 29th, Brandi Carlile revealed that she is tentatively scheduled to perform the Soundgarden classic “Black Hole Sun” during the band’s induction ceremony.
Brandi Carlile talks about performing Soundgarden song
Initially, Carlile was tight-lipped and asked the radio personality to guess. Howard Stern’s first pick was Cyndi Lauper.
“No, but good guess,” Carlisle responded.
“But keep guessing. I’ll give you a couple of hints. They’re from Seattle.”
“Oh, Soundgarden,” Stern responded. “Those guys are the best. What song are you going to do?”
”I don’t know if I’m allowed to tell you,” Carlile responded.
“Oh, of course you’re allowed. I’m like Mr. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
Following some coaxing, Carlile made the massive reveal, saying, “Alright. Well, I guess if there’s a place to be inappropriate, it’s here,” she said. “I think I’m doing ‘Black Hole Sun, unless the guys change it on me.”
“Oh, I want to hear you,” Stern responded.
“I love doing ‘Black Hole Sun’ because Chris Cornell, who’s like one of the great, great all-time singers, when he hits that chorus in ‘Black Hole Sun,’ he goes down in pitch, but my voice, because I’m a girl, I can jump the octave. So, I’m going to go up in the chorus and really belt that chorus,” she added.
Stern then shared a memory of Cornell performing the song in the same studio. “Did you ever see the video of him sitting in my studio? Right where you are, doing ‘Black Hole Sun’ on the guitar?’ Oh my God. I was sitting a foot away from him and he’s doing it. And I was like, man, this guy had it all. Not only was he handsome as f–k, but he just had that whole rock and roll attitude and he could sing and he played guitar beautifully.”
“And the chords. Those chords are just so blues and jazz and just really atypical of that genre,” Carlile added. Carlile also teased touring with Soundgarden, saying if they asked her to go on the road with them she would do it at the ‘drop of a hat.’
In interviews, Carlile noted that Soundgarden were “our heroes” and “god-like” to her in her younger years. One of the key turning points in Carlile’s ongoing relationship with Soundgarden was the tribute concert for Chris Cornell. On January 16, 2019, at The Forum in Inglewood, California, an all-star tribute concert to Chris Cornell was held.
After the 2019 tribute show, the working relationship between Carlile and the surviving Soundgarden members deepened:
In November 2019, Carlile (with her band and co-writers) returned to the legendary London Bridge Studio in Seattle — the same studio where Soundgarden and other luminaries recorded. There, along with Thayil, Cameron and Shepherd, they recorded two Soundgarden tracks: “Black Hole Sun” and Searching With My Good Eye Closed.
