Organizers of Columbus鈥� Rock on the Range festival say they鈥檙e devastated by the passing of rocker Chris Cornell, who was scheduled to headline the festival鈥檚 first night on Friday.
Cornell and his band Soundgarden were the final scheduled act Friday night at MAPFRE Stadium.
Brian Bumbery, Cornell's representative, released a statement to NPR on the singer's death:
Chris Cornell passed away late last night in Detroit, MI. His wife Vicky and family were shocked to learn of his sudden and unexpected passing, and they will be working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause. They would like to thank his fans for their continuous love and loyalty and ask that their privacy be respected at this time.
Cornell helped form Soundgraden in 1984, along with guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Hiro Yamamoto.
With his powerful, nearly four-octave vocal range, Cornell was one of the leading voices of the 1990s grunge movement with Soundgarden, which emerged as one of the biggest bands out of Seattle鈥檚 emerging music scene, joining the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains.
Cornell also collaborated with members of what would become Pearl Jam to form Temple of the Dog, which produced a self-titled album in 1991 in tribute to friend Andrew Wood, former frontman of Mother Love Bone.
Three years later, Soundgarden broke through on mainstream radio with the album 鈥淪uperunknown,鈥� which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Record in 1995. It included hit singles 鈥淪poonman,鈥� 鈥矲ell on Black Days,鈥� 鈥矪lack Hole Sun,鈥� 鈥矼y Wave鈥� and 鈥淭he Day I Tried to Live.鈥�
Soundgarden disbanded in 1997 due to tensions in the band, and Cornell pursued a solo career. In 2001, he joined Audioslave, a supergroup that included former Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello, Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford. The band released three albums in six years and also performed at a concert billed as Cuba鈥檚 first outdoor rock concert by an American band, though some Cuban artists have disputed that claim.
Audioslave disbanded in 2007, but Cornell and Soundgarden reunited in 2010 and released the band鈥檚 sixth studio album, 鈥淜ing Animal鈥� in 2012.
News of Cornell鈥檚 death prompted scores of tweets expressing sadness. Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry tweeted: 鈥淰ery sad news about Chris Cornell today. A sad loss of a great talent to the world, his friends and family. Rest In Peace.鈥�
Information from The Associated Press was used in this story
