Eight years after Chris Cornell’s sudden death, Soundgarden’s Ben Shepherd hinted in a tribute post that they might be putting out a new record of music that hasn’t been released yet.
In the post he shared on Saturday (May 17), Shepherd talked about Cornell’s impact and said he had been thinking about a song that no one had heard that Cornell had written with drummer Matt Cameron. “Chris and Matt wrote a song called ‘The Road Less Traveled’ for our album, but we haven’t named it yet,” he said.
“Hearing Chris’s voice helps; he did that for everyone he knew…” “He helped them, just like he did for me when I was struggling with self-doubt and debt. Just by the sound of his voice, he knew what I was going through and forgiven me, just like he always did, even when he was older,” Shepherd said. It was at this point that I felt awe, love, camaraderie, the power of creation, even majesty, from the music and my bandmates while we were recording all of our previous albums. I think it was just pure life force.
After Cornell’s death on May 17, 2017, Soundgarden broke up, but they have played a few times since then with guest singers. Their most recent show was as Nudedragons in December 2024, with Shaina Shepherd singing lead.
In 2023, the members of Soundgarden who were still alive came to a “amicable out of court” deal with Cornell’s widow Vicky to end a four-year legal battle over seven recordings the singer made before he died that had not been released.
When the lawsuit was over, the band said, “Reconciliation marks a new partnership between the two parties, which will allow Soundgarden fans around the world to hear the final songs that the band and Chris were working on.” So far, there has been no new information about when this unreleased music might come out.
Back in April, Soundgarden was one of many bands named to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025. Kim Thayil, the bassist, told Billboard that he is sure Cornell would be “definitely stoked” about the induction. “He was the one who convinced me of how grateful the fans, our peers, and the Soundgarden community would be,” Thayil said. “That includes the people who work with and for us.” “He knew that was important, and he knew that it would be important to us because it’s important to the people who cared about us, helped us, and stood by us the whole time.”
“I think Chris would answer that way to this.” I think he would be very grateful to everyone who believed in him and the work he did, as well as the work we all did by working together. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction for 2025 will happen live at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on November 8, 2025. In 2025, the event will again be streamed live on Disney+. Later that same day, a special will air on ABC, and the next day, it will be available on Hulu. Right now, we don’t know if the remaining members of Soundgarden will play at the event.
