Remembering Chris Cornell: 5 touching tributes since his passing 5 years ago

Following the death by suicide of singer Chris Cornell on May 18, 2017, his daughter Toni Cornell, just 12-years-old at the time, sang an incredible rendition of the Leonard Cohen classic “Hallelujah,” alongside OneRepublic, to a somber Good Morning America audience. The song holds a special significance, as late Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington performed the song at Cornell’s funeral before his own passing only a few months later.

Soundgarden's 1994 Superunknown favorite "Black Hole Sun" is arguably the best-known single from the Seattle group's repertoire -- but stripping away the music, as one YouTuber did, gives an entirely different feel to the track as we look back on his dynamic and emotional range.

Cornell was memorialized in bronze with his very own statue outside of the Museum of Pop Culture in his hometown of Seattle in 2018. In 2020, the statue was apparently vandalized with paint but was quickly cleaned up by a fan after seeing an image posted by Vicky Cornell on social media.

On January 16, 2019, Foo Fighters, Metallica, Ryan Adams, and the surviving members of Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, and Audioslave performed at The Forum in Inglewood, CA. Special guests at I Am The Highway also included QOTSA's Josh Homme, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler, Ziggy Marley, Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell, The Melvins, and more. Proceeds from the concert benefited the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation. See a complete rundown of the concert HERE.

In the years since Chris' passing, his wife Vicky has become an outspoken advocate for mental health and addiction recovery while their children Toni and Christopher have taken on the task with their mother to spread awareness through their Stop The Stigma national advocacy and education campaign, in conjunction with the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation and the Addiction Policy Forum.