Soundgarden Bassist Ben Shepherd Homeless and "Totally Broke"

BY Alex HudsonPublished Aug 18, 2010

This year has been a time of reunion for grunge old-timers Soundgarden, who have got together for live dates, a reissue and a retrospective compilation. Still, despite these endeavours, bassist Ben Shepherd (far right in the photo above) has admitted that he's fallen on some seriously hard times.

When asked where he lived, Shepherd told Spin, "Nowhere. Literally. I've been sleeping on studio couches and at friends' houses. I'm totally broke."

He first found himself homeless following a breakup with his girlfriend earlier this year. Since then, he's been putting all of his money towards a solo album - which he isn't even sure if he'll release.

This is the culmination of more than a decade's worth of struggles for Shepherd. He also admitted that, in 1997, "Soundgarden broke up; my other band, Hater, broke up; my fiancée broke up with me; and then I broke three ribs. I got addicted to pain pills, drank a ton and wound up OD-ing on morphine. I was laid out in my house for five days and no one knew it. It was a fucking horrible time - this total rock'n'roll cliché."

Cornell probably isn't suffering from the same financial problems as Shepherd. From what we hear, James Bond theme songs and Timbaland collaborations pay pretty well.

Latest Coverage