Incubus’ Brandon Boyd + Cage the Elephant’s Matt Shultz Rock ‘Black Hole Sun’ for Chris Cornell
The musical tributes were aplenty over the weekend as acts did their best to pay homage to the unique voice and talent that was Chris Cornell. The Soundgarden vocalist's death sent shockwaves through the music industry and during the annual KROQ Weenie Roast y Fiesta radio festival in southern California, there was a collaborative salute to Cornell as Incubus welcomed Cage the Elephant's Matt Shultz to the stage to pay homage to the singer.
“All night tonight my thoughts with my brother Chris Cornell,” said Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd. "He is one of three people that made me want to be a singer. He taught me how to be heavy and look for beauty at the same time. He was a huge influence on me and he was a huge influence on our band and so many other bands here tonight. So, I just wanted to say to Chris, I love you wherever you are. We will never forget you.”
Boyd then called out Shultz to join him onstage for the performance, with the singers and the band performing "Black Hole Sun" in front of the 25,000 fans who had packed the Stub Hub Center in Carson, Calif.
Cornell was found in the bathroom of his hotel room in the hours just following Soundgarden's performance in Detroit in Wednesday night. He was pronounced dead at the age of 52 early Thursday morning, with the medical examiner later ruling it "suicide by hanging." The family has since disclosed that the vocalist had admitted taking an "extra Ativan or two" to help with anxiety and they are awaiting the toxicology reports to see what effect the drugs might have had. Cornell will reportedly be buried in Los Angeles this Friday (May 26).
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