Lead Singer of 1990s Band Soundgarden Dies

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Chris Cornell, the lead singer of Soundgarden, died Wednesday night. He was 52 years old.

He and the band were in Detroit, Michigan, for a concert.

Soundgarden was a well-known rock band in the 1990s. The band’s music style is known as “grunge,” which became popular in the 1990s with the success of Soundgarden and other bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana.

The music style started in Seattle, Washington.

Cornell was known for having one of the best voices in rock music. It was featured on Soundgarden’s most successful songs, including “Black Hole Sun," “Spoonman," and “Fell on Black Days”

People have been reacting to his death on social media.

Fans wrote comments under the band’s YouTube videos after the news of Cornell’s death. On the “Fell on Black Days” video, one fan wrote: “Fitting song for today. Rest in Peace, Chris.”

Many people talked about how many good songs came out in the early 1990s, including those from Soundgarden.

Late in the day Thursday, Detroit police confirmed [that] Cornell committed suicide.

Many musicians used social media to express their sadness.

Gavin Rossdale of Bush, Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin all wrote about Cornell.

SO SO stunned to hear about Chris Cornell! Such a terrible and sad loss! Thinking of his family tonight! RIP

— Dave Navarro (@DaveNavarro) May 18, 2017
Navarro wrote: “Such a terrible, and sad loss.”

Soundgarden broke up in 1997. Cornell went on to play music on his own and with a new group called Audioslave.

Soundgarden got back together, however, in 2010. The band was on tour when Cornell died.

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I’m Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell wrote this story for VOA Learning English based on reports by VOANews.com and The Associated Press. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

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