Good morning Radicals! Are you prepared for Halloween in 2 days? I know I am! In the meantime, here’s what’s going on in the world of rock and roll:
Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil has opened up about false Chris Cornell murder conspiracy theories that have been “floating around” on the Internet. Thayil told The Detroit Free Press that the theories were “the cockamamie ideas.” One theory was that Cornell was murdered because he was about to expose a pedophile ring. Thayil said, “The fact of the matter is there was nothing that would suggest this outcome.”
Back in March, Chris Cornell’s widow Vicky also discussed the conspiracy theories on Twitter. Someone tweeted to her, “Yes! ATIVAN did NOT cause his death. It IMPAIRED his thinking, personality, suicidal ideation. He was NOT coherent to make the right choices. As a REGISTERED NURSE X26 YRS, I know this about ATIVAN. I’m so sick of trolls questioning Vicky. LEAVE HER ALONE.” Vicky responded, “Thank you so right and I will no longer be answering trolls and conspiracy theorists. Too much energy and oddly the one that was typing away all about my husband wasn’t following either him, Soundgarden, Temple or Audioslave….. odd for a ‘fan.’”
Meanwhile, Thayil also spoke on why Soundgarden wasn’t at the hotel where Cornell died. Thayil and his band MC50 returned to Detroit on Friday (December 26th) for the first time since his last performance with Cornell on May 17, 2017. Cornell was found dead an hour later in his hotel room at the MGM Grand Hotel. Thayil said that he and the other Soundgarden members were already en route to Columbus for their next gig when they found out that Cornel had died in his hotel room. Thayil added that there hadn’t been any signs that something was wrong, saying that “nothing that would have allowed us to anticipate what would happen.”
He explained, “There were a few minor difficulties (early) in the show that I felt adjusted themselves within a few songs. And then the rest of the show went pretty well.”
Thayil said that his return to Detroit comes with “complicated and dark” emotions. He explained, “There certainly seems like there’s an offering of closure. I doubt that it will happen. But it seems available. There’s also an element of irony to be asked by Wayne [Kramer] to play on a tour with my favorite band, which is from Detroit, that would culminate in a Detroit show. The poetic irony and the opportunity for closure were not lost on me.”
Chris Cornell committed suicide in May 2017. He was 52.
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