A representative for the Detroit Police has told Variety that Chris Cornell's death is being investigated as a suicide, although he emphasized that it's too early to make any conclusions.
“At 12 a.m. [local time], we received a 911 call from the MGM Grand Casino Hotel,” the Detroit Police director of media relations told Variety. “It appears as though a family friend was checking up on Cornell at his wife’s request. He went to hotel and discovered him unresponsive on the bathroom floor. Police made the location with EMS, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
“At present our investigation is leaning toward the possibility of suicide, but we must wait for a medical report to determine the cause of death. At this time we cannot release too much information about what we observed in Cornell’s hotel room or what led us to this conclusion.”
A different police representative told Variety that the singer was found with a “band” around his neck.
It also has come to light that the very last song Soundgarden performed last night (which was, of course, Cornell's final performance) was Led Zeppelin's "In My Time of Dying," which features the opening lines: "In my time of dying, I want nobody to mourn / All I want for you to do is take my body home."
Cornell and Soundgarden have performed the song in the past, but it's interesting that they employed it as their closer last night at Detroit's Fox Theater. Cornell was found dead just a few hours later.
"Honestly something looked off last night with him," show attendee Joey Mugan told CNN. "I just didn't think about it because the show was great." Mugan was able to grab the set list from the front of the stage, and you can see it here. Note that it does not conclude with "In My Time of Dying."
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Below, check out Jimmy Page's Twitter tribute to Cornell—plus two exclusive Guitar World videos from 2015 that show Page being interviewed by Cornell at the Ace Hotel Theater in Los Angeles. You can find the rest of this interview on YouTube.
Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
