Chris Cornell’s Funeral: Chester Bennington Sings “Hallejulah,” Mourners Include Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Hole, Soundgarden Members
Among those who attended Chris Cornell’s private memorial today were his Soundgarden bandmates Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron; Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament; Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic; Metallica’s James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich; Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro; Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, and Pat Smear; Bush’s Gavin Rossdale; Pharrell; Joe Walsh; Audioslave’s Tom Morello; Jimmy Page; Courtney Love; Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell; and Linkin Park’s Brad Delson and Chester Bennington who performed Leonard Cohen’s “Hallejulah.”
Cornell was laid to rest at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in a ceremony that opened with the sound of the Soundgarden/Audioslave frontman’s recent song “The Promise.” Others spotted at the service included actors Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Josh Brolin, James Franco, and Fred Armisen. Cornell’s former bandmates Thayil, Cameron, and Morello all delivered eulogies as did Ament and Brolin. “Chris was as melodic as the Beatles, as rocking as Sabbath, and as haunting as Edgar Allan Poe,” Morello said.
Mourners then headed to the rocker’s burial site as Temple Of The Dog’s “All Night Thing” played. Cornell’s ashes were placed in a gravesite adjacent to the monument for his friend, Johnny Ramone. Red roses were placed on Cornell’s grave marker which reads “Voice of our generation and an artist for all time.”
The musician’s widow and two youngest children also attended. The memorial site opens to the public today at 3pm PST.
Cornell died last week at age 52 after he was found unresponsive in a Detroit hotel room hours after performing with Soundgarden. Preliminary autopsy results showed the singer hanged himself, but full toxicology results are pending. The singer’s family has disputed the findings and claim Cornell may have taken more of an anti-anxiety drug than he was prescribed.
.@ChesterBe & Brad performed 'Hallelujah' at Chris Cornell's funeral. Heartbreaking performance 💔 #RIPChrisCornellhttps://t.co/vY8rUKSW4n pic.twitter.com/p3WnNWcBHp
— Linkin Park Live (@LPLive) May 26, 2017