Chris Cornell Celebrated by Wife and Daughter on SiriusXM Special Show

Famed grunge singer Chris Cornell was celebrated today (July 20) by his wife and daughter on what would have been the late singer’s 58th birthday during an exclusive SiriusXM special.

Vicky Cornell and daughter Toni honored the late artist and rock icon on the SiriusXM Lithium channel earlier today.

Chris Cornell Family Guest DJ, which premiered today on SiriusXM’s Lithium at 9:00 a.m. ET June 20, featured Vicky and Toni handpicking songs that Chris loved, including classic tracks from Prince, David Bowie, Adele, Johnny Cash, and more. The two also shared special memories of their fallen family member, who was the frontman for Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, and Audioslave before he passed away in 2017.

Vicky shared how Chris was a huge Adele fan and had planned to cover her Tiny Desk concert. She also said Chris loved Eminem and that he would sing Eminem’s “Not Afraid” often in the car. Check out a few audio clips from the show here below.

Chris Cornell Considered Eminem “An Amazing Artist”& Would Sing “Not Afraid”

Vicky Cornell: So again, Chris had really eclectic taste. There was no such thing for him as like a specific genre. If he felt the artist was great, he listened to their music. It didn’t matter. Chris was, he, he loved Eminem. He thought he was an amazing artist and we would play “Not Afraid” in the car. And little Christopher suddenly started singing it. And it was his favorite song. And so daddy and him would get into the car and immediately Christopher would be like, ‘Put on “Not Afraid”’ and he would sing it and they’d sing it together. Like rap, this little baby was, was rap. I mean, he was really young. Yeah. And it was just one of those special songs that we played around the house and he thought he was amazing.

Chris Cornell Was A Huge Adele Fan, Planned To Cover Her Tiny Desk Concert

Vicky Cornell: He was a huge Adele fan. And I mean, he just admired her and thought she was just one of those, I mean, I think we can all agree one of the greatest and he was completely in awe of her ‘Tiny Desk’ performance, the entire, the entire thing. And the next thing he was scheduled to go into the studio to do was cover of the entire ‘Tiny Desk.’ That’s what he was planning on going in to do next. So it’s, it’s kind of bittersweet. 

The special will be rebroadcasted on SiriusXM’s Lithium channel on July 20 at, 3 p.m. and 11 p.m., July 21 at 5 p.m., July 22 at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., July 23 at 12 p.m. and 9 p.m. and July 24 at 3 p.m. and 11 p.m., and is available on the SXM App now.

Photo by Jen Cash