Chris Cornell Cause of Death: Rock Legend Died by Hanging, Medical Exam Says
American rock pioneer Chris Cornell died on Thursday, May 18, as confirmed by his publicist. Authorities have now confirmed the cause of the death 52-year old Soundgarden lead and have released a statement on their findings.
The Wayne Country Medical Examine has just completed an initial examination of Chris Cornell, who was found dead in the bathroom of his Detroit hotel room just hours after a concert. The medical examiner has released a statement ruling his death as caused by suicide.
"The Medical Examiner has completed the autopsy on 52-year-old Chris Cornell, the Soundgarden musician who died last night in Detroit," the statement read, as quoted by the Metro. "The cause of death has been determined as hanging by suicide (sic). A full autopsy report has not yet been completed. There is no additional information at this time," the statement concluded.
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The Seattle-born Soundgarden frontman was found by officers who were called to Cornell's hotel by a friend. Around midnight, the cops found Chris Cornell slumped in his bathroom and already deceased. Dan Donakowski, the spokesman for the Detroit Police Department, earlier said that the authorities are approaching the investigation from a possible angle of suicide, according to Reuters.
His death, which has been described as sudden and unexpected in a statement from Cornell's representative, came just after the grunge pioneer posted on social media about their Detroit tour. "#Detroit finally back to Rock City !!!! @soundgarden," said the tweet, and it would be the last social media post by the rock legend.
Soundgarden went their separate ways in 1997, and four years later, Cornell formed Audioslave in 2001 together with former members of Rage Against the Machine. Audioslave rose to fame on the back of their self-titled album. In 2010, Soundgarden was reformed, and Cornell and company were embarking on a tour across the United States before the frontman's death.
