New music is on the way
Soundgarden’s surviving members Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, and Ben Shepherd, their managers Red Light Management, and Vicky Cornell, the wife of former vocalist Chris Cornell, have reached an “amicable out of court resolution” regarding the band’s final recordings with Cornell before his May 2017 death. The parties shared the news via social media on Monday (Apr 17th).
“Soundgarden and Vicky Cornell, on behalf of the Estate of Chris Cornell, are happy to announced that they have reached an amicable out of court resolution. The reconciliation marks a new partnership between the two parties, which will allow Soundgarden fans around the world to hear the final songs the band and Chris were working on,” a statement reads. “The two parties are united and coming together to propel, honor and build up Soundgarden’s incredible legacy as well as Chris’s indelible mark on music history — as one of the greatest songwriters and vocalists of all time.”
The resolution comes nearly two years after the band and Vicky Cornell came to an agreement that gave the band and its managers temporarily control back to its website and social media accounts following a lawsuit with Vicky.
In 2020, Soundgarden filed suit in US District Court of the Southern District of Florida, Miami against Vicky, claiming she took control of the group’s social media accounts without their permission, and “removed fan comments, and has herself posted images and comments to publicly accessible band social media pages. Some of those postings by Vicky Cornell are intended to denigrate the band and surviving band members.”
The lawsuit also accused Vicky of “fraudulent inducement” over money from a 2019 tribute concert for her husband — in which the surviving band members performed for free and for the first time together since Cornell took his own life in 2017 at the age of 52 — for her own use instead of the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation like it was intended. That part of the lawsuit was later dropped after two causes of action related to their allegations of fraud over the show were dismissed.
Last year, Cornell filed suit against the band for royalties she felt they were withholding money due to her late husband’s estate. A judge ruled against Cornell claiming there wasn’t enough evidence that “hundreds of thousands of dollars” of royalties from the Chris Cornell fronted group were withheld.
https://www.facebook.com/Soundgarden/posts/pfbid02VVV1QyFGKCAYP8beQTFUi6VcQWvxKvvr5kabVxUgmv9CjwEwGDJppDjHUM2XAGCol
