Vicky Cornell on Chris Cornell: ‘He Would Never Have Ever Left this World’

2018-02-21

Story by Anne Erickson, photo by Ken Settle

Vicky Cornell, the widow of late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, discusses her love for her husband in a new TV interview. The interview, which marks her first since Cornell’s tragic suicide in 2017, aired on ABC’s “Good Morning America” today (Feb. 21) and gives insight into what Vicky thinks happened to cause her husband to take his own life. In the interview, Vicky stated that Cornell, who also sang in the rock groups Audioslave and Temple of the Dog, struggled with addiction his entire life and was not in his right mind when he committed suicide in the early morning hours of May 18 because of a relapse in drug abuse.

“My husband was the furthest thing from a rock star junkie. He just wasn’t,” Vicky explained. “He was the best husband, the greatest father. I lost my soulmate and the love of my life. He wanted to be there for his family, for his children. He loved his life. He would never have ever left this world.” She added that she didn’t think her husband “could make any decisions” when he took his own life “because of the level of impairment.”

Vicky went on to say that she has revisited her own thoughts on addition since Chris’ passing. She also says that she thinks she should have seen “signs” in her husband before he passed. “I know that people say, ‘You can’t blame yourself,’ and I’m trying not to,” Vicky said. “But there were signs.”

She added, “People think that addiction is, like, ‘Oh, you were an addict,’ and people don’t recognize it as a disease. I feel guilty of the same thing. You think addiction is a choice, and it’s not.”

One of Chris’ best friends, Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington, took his own life just months after Chris’ death. Bennington passed away in July of 2017.

Anne Erickson
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Posted by Anne Erickson | Alternative, Music, Rock, Rock News

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