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April 10, 2009

Chris Cornell Writes Song With Ill Fan Stereogum (and Trent Reznor) mocked the former grunge hero's foray into Timba-produced electropop, but no funny business today... Soundgarden fan Rory de la Rosa lost his six-year-old to cancer, then was diagnosed with the same illness. Now Cornell has turned the guy's poem into a rock ballad you can download here. MP3 is free, but a PayPal donation to Rory's family to pay medical bills is encouraged.

Posted at 4:07 PM in
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30 Comments

I dunno...this is still pretty funny

Posted by: Stephen profile link at 04/10/09 4:49 PM  | Reply
Score = -60 Vote up Vote down

please think about that comment when you undoubtedly get cancer sometime in the future...as many of us likely will

Posted by: The Rat profile link at 04/10/09 5:55 PM  | Reply
Score = 14 Vote up Vote down

This seems like exploiting cancer...

Posted by: Eric at 04/10/09 7:07 PM  | Reply
Score = -17 Vote up Vote down

That is to say exploiting the victim for P.R.

Posted by: Eric! profile link  in reply to Eric's comment at 04/12/09 4:48 AM  | Reply
Score = 1 Vote up Vote down

I think it's incredibly sweet of Chris to do this, it's just a shame the song is a bit cringeworthy.

Posted by: Sal at 04/10/09 8:13 PM  | Reply
Score = 14 Vote up Vote down

Does anyone know what Rory de la Rosa thought of the song? I think his opinion matters much more than any of ours.

Posted by: Nick profile link  in reply to Sal's comment at 04/13/09 11:37 AM  | Reply
Score = 2 Vote up Vote down

Seems disrespectful to turn a cancer patient's poem into a Timba-produced electropop song, don't you think so Chris Cornell?

Posted by: Geoff at 04/10/09 9:42 PM  | Reply
Score = -14 Vote up Vote down

The song he wrote from Rory's poem isn't on "Scream". It isn't on any album, as far as I know. I'm pretty sure Chris just demo'd the song on his laptop or something to stream on chriscornell.com . He's done the song live a few times, too. Definitely not produced by Timbaland, though.

Posted by: heyGeoff  in reply to Geoff's comment at 04/10/09 10:10 PM  | Reply
Score = 11 Vote up Vote down

I'm pretty sure that Cornell cowrote all the Audioslave material with cancer victims too

Posted by: steve at 04/10/09 11:52 PM  | Reply
Score = -8 Vote up Vote down

ZING!

Posted by: indierocksucks.com profile link  in reply to steve's comment at 04/14/09 10:29 AM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Are you guys really that cynical? I will be the first to admit that Audioslave and his last few solo albums have been awful, but to talk shit about Cornell for making a song out of this fan's poem is positively pathetic. I would consider it a very kind gesture if a musician made that kind of effort to connect with me after such an awful experience. Even if the song is bad, it's more than most musicians will ever do for any individual fan.

Posted by: Bob at 04/11/09 1:33 AM  | Reply
Score = 29 Vote up Vote down

"...making a song out of this fan's poem is positively pathetic."

I agree.

Posted by: steve  in reply to Bob's comment at 04/11/09 2:24 AM  | Reply
Score = -17 Vote up Vote down

When he plays Electric Fetus on Record Store Day I think I'm gonna request a NIN song.

Posted by: gimmeDANEger at 04/11/09 4:40 AM  | Reply
Score = 7 Vote up Vote down

I thought the "III" meant third. Thus I figured Cornell was writing a song with one of his last remaining fans. "Cornell writes song with third remaining fan."

Posted by: pants at 04/11/09 9:26 AM  | Reply
Score = 12 Vote up Vote down

"last remaining fans" He just played 2 sold out shows in NYC fool! Someone does something nice and you idiots make fun of the guy. Losers.

Posted by: jjazznola at 04/11/09 2:02 PM  | Reply
Score = 1 Vote up Vote down

Because Chris Cornell deserves the shit-talking. The poor cancer victim, on the other hand, deserves better than Cornell taking a crap on his poem.

Posted by: Geoff  in reply to jjazznola's comment at 04/11/09 3:26 PM  | Reply
Score = -1 Vote up Vote down

nickelback and that band timbaland produces that sounds just like cornell play soldout shows in nyc too. everyone with a record contract seem to....cuz ny is hella shite, take that nyc!

Posted by: indierocksucks.com profile link at 04/11/09 2:37 PM  | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Cornell's last album was awful. And while I haven't listened to it, I'm willing to venture this song is just as bad.

That doesn't make these comments any less insensitive. It's like laughing at an off-key performance at a kid's funeral.

Posted by: ... at 04/11/09 4:30 PM  | Reply
Score = 1 Vote up Vote down

"Reporters were unable to confirm whether the Mr de la Rosa fell ill before or after hearing Cornell's latest album"

Posted by: Jacob at 04/12/09 5:25 AM  | Reply
Score = -7 Vote up Vote down

wow. you fuckers are a bunch of fucking dick eaters. you're a waste of oxygen.

Posted by: dijon bray profile link at 04/12/09 9:57 AM  | Reply
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I personally don't think you guys should have posted this. I think it was obvious what kind of response it would get here, especially considering how negative your Cornell coverage has been of late (however justified it may be seen to be). Posting this doesn't do anyone good, because the douschebag hyenas who commented so thoughtlessly here miss the point completely.
The best thing you could do is leave the guy the fuck alone; his reward for doing something genuinely kind should be to be spared the ridicule and hideous comments from some of these people.

Posted by: jmc at 04/12/09 11:31 AM  | Reply
Score = 16 Vote up Vote down

Well hopefully it wasnt totally useless, if some people at least donated money then it can be considered reasonably successful. Even if it generated more negative comments than money. I haven't listened to the song but as a gesture to a fan it's very admirable.

Posted by: Coj  in reply to jmc's comment at 04/12/09 1:04 PM  | Reply
Score = 7 Vote up Vote down

I'm sorry that the fan died of cancer, but I'm not supposed to point out how contrived and self-serving it is when a rock star like Cornell does something like this? It's pulled directly from the Pseudo-Concerned Rock Star 101 playbook. I could be wrong and this whole stunt could be totally sincere, but considering that this guy currently makes a living by fronting a corporate supergroup named Audioslave, I'd say that he's probably a bit lacking in the sincerity department.

Posted by: steve at 04/12/09 5:58 PM  | Reply
Score = -4 Vote up Vote down

Fail. Audioslave=disbanded, quite a while ago. But I suppose we should be thankful that we have you as such a beacon of morality so that you can point out to us fools and corporate sell-outs when something is lame is contrived. You're completely right: being in a massive rock band DOES make you insincere and forbids you from doing compassionate things. Whattadousche you are mate.

Posted by: jmc  in reply to steve's comment at 04/12/09 9:46 PM  | Reply
Score = 7 Vote up Vote down

yeah yeah yeah ...make your silly comments. Just pay up. You are also exploiting the cancer victims here by commenting and splitting.

Start the week off right and make a donation .... in cash...not snark.

Don't worry, are not supporting Chris Cornell ... jeez. Big babies.

Posted by: Burg at 04/13/09 9:16 AM  | Reply
Score = 6 Vote up Vote down

Dude makes strange, unappealing, and awful music and some of you make it sound like he's the incarnation of Satan, Oliver Cromwell, and O.J. Simpson all rolled into one. The dude that wrote the poem that Cornell turned into a song was probably incredibly stoked on it being that he is a huge fan. The cynicism on here is incredible. I guess music is just THAT important where we can just ignore helping out the terminally ill if it means knowing that somebody might write a bad song about it that we don't even have to listen to.

Posted by: jonlovitz at 04/13/09 5:52 PM  | Reply
Score = 7 Vote up Vote down

When the fan passes ( which is incredibly sad,) Chris Cornell will officially have no fans.

Posted by: anusbong profile link at 04/15/09 7:43 PM  | Reply
Score = -4 Vote up Vote down

Wow. You people are insanely cynical. I think as the internet has progressed we have become almost post-human, post-emotion. Everything is fodder for jokes or snide comments. No kind gesture is free from your scorn or speculation. Every action in your eyes was done for the wrong reason. "Oh he's exploiting the fan having cancer for publicity." The guy is a Chris Cornell fan so obviously he'd be honored to have his poem made into song whether or not you think it's any good.

Posted by: Lonnie Pigford at 04/16/09 4:24 PM  | Reply
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For those of you who even vaguely understand the desire to help those with terminal cancers, the absolute best thing you can do is join the National Bone Marrow Registry. Donating stem sells/bone marrow will literally save a life, go to www.DKMSAmericas.org to order a registry kit. My boss's 6 year old daughter is dying of cancer, and needs a donor: www.oneforjasmina.com.

Posted by: TheElephant profile link at 04/17/09 3:10 PM  | Reply
Score = 1 Vote up Vote down

Chris Cornell looks like she is ready for some cock.

Posted by: Kim Thayil at 04/17/09 4:16 PM  | Reply
Score = 1 Vote up Vote down

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