Soundgarden lead singer Chris Cornell did not intend to take his own life, his family have said the day after a US medical examiner’s report determined his cause of death as suicide by hanging.
His relatives said they wanted to wait for a toxicology report before coming to any conclusions on what had happened to him, adding that they believed his judgment may have been impaired by drugs he was taking on the day he died.
“What happened is inexplicable and I am hopeful that further medical reports will provide additional details. I know that he loved our children and he would not hurt them by intentionally taking his own life,” Cornell’s wife, Vicky, said in a statement.
She said her husband had been taking Ativan, a prescription drug used to treat anxiety and insomnia, which has possible side effects including depression and impaired judgment.
Vicky Cornell added that, on the day her husband died, she “noticed he was slurring his words, he was different ... He told me he may have taken an extra Ativan or two.”
Kirk Pasich, a lawyer for the family, said Cornell’s relatives were disturbed that inferences that the singer “knowingly and intentionally took his life” were being made before the results of a toxicology test were known.
“Without the results of toxicology tests, we do not know what was going on with Chris or if any substances contributed to his demise. Chris, a recovering addict, had a prescription for Ativan and may have taken more Ativan than recommended dosages,” Pasich said.
“The family believes that if Chris took his life, he did not know what he was doing and that drugs or other substances may have affected his actions.”
Cornell had spoken openly of his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, as well as his periods of depression and agoraphobia.
Vicky Cornell said she had asked security to check on her husband on Wednesday night and had spoken to him before and after the concert he played that evening in Detroit, Michigan, with Soundgarden.
On Thursday a local medical examiner’s office said: “The cause of death has been determined as hanging by suicide [sic]. A full autopsy report has not yet been completed.”
Cornell was a former member of the band Audioslave and had a solo career, but was perhaps best known as the frontman of Soundgarden, which emerged from the Seattle grunge scene that also produced Nirvana.
He was found in a bathroom in his room at the MGM Grand Detroit hotel after performing in the city on Wednesday night. Police said he was “laying in his bathroom, unresponsive and he had passed away”.
