Kim Thayil, legendary guitarist of Soundgarden, has shared deeply personal and emotional reflections on the loss of his close friend and bandmate Chris Cornell.
In a new interview with The Guardian promoting his autobiography A Screaming Life: Into the Superunknown with Soundgarden and Beyond (published June 9, 2026, in the US), Thayil opened up about the lasting impact of Cornell’s tragic death by suicide on May 18, 2017, in Detroit — just hours after a Soundgarden concert.
“I could never have anticipated the vacuum, the absence, and how profound it is,” Thayil said. “The loss is not just in missing the companionship, the creative partnership, and everything I learned from him. I also miss that sense of duty, as a big brother, to protect him. I still feel that sense of, ‘What could I have done?’ I’ve had to recognise my own mortality, my vulnerability and my impotence. You can’t save everything you love. Perhaps you can’t even save yourself.”
Thayil admitted in his memoir that the band initially thought the news of Cornell’s death was a cruel internet hoax. He expressed deep regret over not seeing warning signs, saying:
“I didn’t see it coming… The thing that hurts me the most is to be a close friend and colleague and not to have read things that perhaps, in retrospect, I should have read… There was nothing that was on my radar that I could read at that time.”
Despite the pain, Thayil emphasized his enduring love for Soundgarden. The surviving members are currently finishing a collection of unreleased songs based on Cornell’s final demos.
OKim Thayil’s honesty is both heartbreaking and powerful. Losing a bandmate and friend like Chris Cornell — one of rock’s most gifted voices — left a massive void not just in music, but in the personal lives of those closest to him. Thayil’s words highlight the complex emotions of guilt, love, and acceptance that come with such a profound loss. Even years later, the grief remains raw, yet his continued commitment to Soundgarden’s legacy shows incredible strength and respect for what they built together.
