Soundgarden and Vicky Cornell, the widow of late frontman Chris Cornell and proprietor of his estate, have reached an out-of-court resolution in their years-long legal battle. This settlement will allow the band's final recordings with Cornell to be released.
"Soundgarden and Vicky Cornell, on behalf of the Estate of Chris Cornell, are happy to announce they have reached an amicable out of court resolution," the band shared in a statement. "The reconciliation marks a new partnership between the two parties, which will allow Soundgarden fans around the world to hear the final songs that the band and Chris were working on."
They added, "The two parties are united and coming together to propel, honour and build upon 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."
A couple years after Chris Cornell's death in 2017, Vicky Cornell sued the surviving members of Soundgarden (Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd) over missing royalties. She had accused them of withholding payments in order to obtain seven unreleased recordings made with the late singer-songwriter, which the band argued were for a Soundgarden album and were thusly their property.
Since then, the band and Chris Cornell's estate have been embroiled in a legal battle that led to a second lawsuit in 2021, with Vicky Cornell claiming they made a "ludicrously low" buyout offer. Soundgarden's social media accounts proceeded to reportedly get "hijacked" before Thayil, Cameron and Shepherd regained control of their profiles in a temporary agreement with the widow.
"We look forward to completing the final Soundgarden album," Tayil, Cameron and Shepherd had said in a rebuttal statement to the estate's lawsuit back in 2021 — and it sounds like they might finally get the chance now.
See the statement from the band below.
"Soundgarden and Vicky Cornell, on behalf of the Estate of Chris Cornell, are happy to announce they have reached an amicable out of court resolution," the band shared in a statement. "The reconciliation marks a new partnership between the two parties, which will allow Soundgarden fans around the world to hear the final songs that the band and Chris were working on."
They added, "The two parties are united and coming together to propel, honour and build upon 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."
A couple years after Chris Cornell's death in 2017, Vicky Cornell sued the surviving members of Soundgarden (Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd) over missing royalties. She had accused them of withholding payments in order to obtain seven unreleased recordings made with the late singer-songwriter, which the band argued were for a Soundgarden album and were thusly their property.
Since then, the band and Chris Cornell's estate have been embroiled in a legal battle that led to a second lawsuit in 2021, with Vicky Cornell claiming they made a "ludicrously low" buyout offer. Soundgarden's social media accounts proceeded to reportedly get "hijacked" before Thayil, Cameron and Shepherd regained control of their profiles in a temporary agreement with the widow.
"We look forward to completing the final Soundgarden album," Tayil, Cameron and Shepherd had said in a rebuttal statement to the estate's lawsuit back in 2021 — and it sounds like they might finally get the chance now.
See the statement from the band below.
