On May 18th, 52-year-old Soundgarden frontman, Chris Cornell, died in Detroit; the cause of death determined by the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office as “hanging by suicide”.

Saigon Kick guitarist Jason Bieler has posted a tribute to Cornell and Soundgarden on his official Instagram page, available below.

 

I first became aware of Soundgarden in 88-89 while hanging out at the Reunion Room in Ft Lauderdale. The DJ was playing "Big Dumb Sex” over the PA and the place went crazy…which was really odd for a more purely alternative leaning club at that time. That led me to "Louder Than Love" which completely blew me away….and still does. It was Soundgarden and Jane’s Addiction that taught me that heavy music didn’t have to be about cars, partying, strippers or dragons…at least not all of it. We played with Soundgarden at Livestock in Tampa in 91 or 92 which was a thrill and I remember lending Kim my Boss Super Overdrive because something went wrong with his. Chris had one of those voices…they don’t come around very often but you know it when you hear it...the real deal…he will be missed.

A post shared by Jason Bieler (@jasonbieler) on May 18, 2017 at 2:14pm PDT

A report from Variety reveals that Cornell’s family has issued a statement questioning the coroner’s report that the singer intentionally took his own life.

“Without the results of toxicology tests, we do not know what was going on with Chris - or if any substances contributed to his demise,” the Cornell family said.

The vocalist had a prescription for Ativan, the family shared, and may have taken a higher dosage that impaired his judgement. Attorney Kirk Pasich noted that Ativan can cause paranoid or suicidal thoughts and slurred speech. Ativan is a tranquilizer and anti-anxiety medication that is sometimes used as a sleeping aid.

Cornell was a recovering addict and had allegedly been sober since 2002. His wife, Vicky, said in an emotional statement, “Chris’s death is a loss that escapes words and has created an emptiness in my heart that will never be filled. As everyone who knew him commented, Chris was a devoted father and husband.”

She said Cornell flew home from Soundgarden’s tour the weekend before to spend time with his wife and children, before returning to the mid-west.

Read the full report at Variety.com.

Chris Cornell was found dead in his hotel bathroom at 12:05 AM, ET on Thursday. Soundgarden had played a show just hours before at Detroit’s Fox Theater. Fan-filmed video of his final performance can be seen below: