Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament: ‘Chris Cornell was Seattle’s greatest songwriter’
Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament has spoken publicly for the first time about the death of his close friend and former bandmate Chris Cornell.
Jeff, who was invited to join Temple of the Dog by Chris in 1990 soon after Mother Love Bone dissolved in the wake of Andrew Wood’s death, heaped praise on the late Soundgarden singer in an interview with the NBA.com podcast NBA Soundsystem.
"Jimi Hendrix included, Chris was the greatest songwriter to ever come out of Seattle," Jeff said.
"Hendrix could play the guitar like crazy, but Chris had the songwriting chops that we all sort of hope to get to… He had a way that he could wrap a melody around odd time signatures and weird parts and make them catchy. And he was a beautiful wordsmith."
He continued: "If you look at his lyrics, he was obviously processing his pain and his depression and all those things. I think that's part of what people, myself included, responded to when he was singing.
"And then with the songwriting, he had that voice. There's not too many people who had that many options with their voice. He could inhabit a lot of different characters with that voice."
He added to the podcast: "I feel so lucky I got to be in a project with him and got to hang out with him and just witness his greatness."
Together with Chris’s Soundgarden and Audiolave bandmates Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Tom Morello, Jeff delivered a eulogy at the private memorial service for Chris Cornell at Los Angeles' Hollywood Forever Cemetery last Friday (26th May).
Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington sang Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ at the ceremony while James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, Taylor Hawkins, Krist Novoselic, Courtney Love, Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro were among those in attendance.
The day after Chris’s death, Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready issued a statement saying: “Chris Cornell painted in song the darkness and beauty of life in Seattle.
“Chris means a lot to me today, as he trusted me to play on Temple (of the Dog). He handed me a dream in getting to actually play on beautiful songs. Informed how I would play on Pearl Jam records in the future, I believe. Gave me the break into the music business I’d wanted since I was 11. He was a friend I will miss. I miss you, brother.”
Pearl Jam and Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron posted a picture of an early Soundgarden flyer along with the simple caption: “My dark knight is gone.”
Without referencing Chris Cornell directly, Eddie Vedder’s show in Amsterdam over the weekend was highly poignant.
He told the crowd: "I'm thinking of a lot of people tonight. And some in particular and their families. And I just know that healing takes time, if it ever happens, it takes time, and that means you have to start somewhere so let it be music. Let it be love and togetherness, and let it be Amsterdam."