Soundgarden rock and roll

Hall of fame

Saturday, November 8. 2025, approximately 40 years after their formation, the Mighty Soundgarden entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I did not attend the ceremony, and couldn’t manage to stay up late enough to watch it live, but I watched the next day.

It was emotional.

Jim Carrey introduced the award, later joined by Lily Cornell, Chris’s eldest daughter. While not an entirely odd choice, I thought someone other than Carrey should have done it. He is a fan and had insisted Soundgarden be the musical guest when he hosted Saturday Night Live. However, perhaps someone with more of a kinship with Chris or even grunge could have done it. The first name to come to mind is Eddie Vedder, but I believe that there is some sort of bad blood there.

The musical tributes were good, despite some sound issues throughout. Taylor Momsen fronted “Rusty Cage”, which I love because I really like her voice for the songs and she is a HUGE fan, which is a plus. Brandi Carlisi tackled “Black Hole Sun.” That performance isn’t as memorable or impactful to me, though she did well.

Chris’s middle child, Toni, sang a haunting rendition of Fell on Black days with Heart’s Nancy Wilson on the guitar. I think I may have stopped breathing a bit during that performance.

When the guys got to the podium to speak is when I lost it. Hiro went first.

“Chris Cornell. We are so missing you tonight on this stage,” he said. “We all love you. And we would not be here tonight without you. Somewhere Chris we’re talking to you.”

He went on to reveal his parents lived in a Japanese internment camp and expressed a strong desire for something like that to NOT happen again.

“Let’s not add another something like this to our story. Really. Come on we can do a lot better than this.” Agreed, Hiro. Agreed.

Matt’s speech was very professional and prepared. I like how he thanked specific people, including Susan Silver.

Kim’s brief speech made me cry. He thanked the fans, management and even shouted out Scott and Jason, then mentioned how much Chris supported his bandmates creative ideas.

“I miss him. I love him, and I love all my Soundgarden brothers.” Same, Kim. Same.

Now the band’s finishing up their final album with Chris’s vocals. I’ll be sure to post about that. Stay tuned and bring the tissues.

I added the link to the ceremony here:

blackholesunshower