Soundgarden's Chris Cornell: Did he really commit suicide?

Christopher John Cornell (Boyle)

"Ultimately I think I'm sort of a freethinker and kind of open. … So many bad things–as well as good things–have happened based on people just sort of blindly following religion that I kind of feel like I want to stay away from any type of specific denomination or any religion period. If for no other reason than just that. I don't want to be involved with anything or condone any school of thought that at some point and in some way causes the death of innocent people, or tragedies where initial fantastic ideas are distorted. Like the life, for example, of Jesus is well-documented. It's corroborated by different people, who had different backgrounds, and different levels of education. And they wrote about it. We know that this guy existed, and we know pretty much what he said, and it's pretty simple. Everything from that point on in terms of wars and fighting over land and territories and religious things, none of that was even included in anything he said. His message was pretty simple, be really nice to each other and everything will be okay."

He was born July 20, 1964 in Seattle Washington.

His parents were Edward F. Boyle, a pharmacist of Irish-Catholic background, and Karen Cornell, an accountant and psychic of Jewish background.

He was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave. 

He was also the founder and frontman for Temple of the Dog, the one-off tribute band dedicated to his late friend Andrew Wood.

He is considered one of the chief architects of the 1990s grunge movement.

He had a  nearly four-octave vocal range, and a powerful vocal belting technique.
Cornell's death was ruled a suicide by hanging.

His widow Vicky Cornell has continued to insist that he’d never have taken his own life. 

She believes prescription medication with known side-effects  abd head trauma, disrupted his state of mind.

An emergency technician was supposedly heard on medical dispatch audio referencing a gash in Chris Cornell’s head and the ambulance crew report referred to a “laceration to back of skull.” No mention was made of such an injury in the autopsy report. Vicky told the News: 

“You can clearly see a gash or at least a visible big bald spot in pictures and video footage. It was confirmed by the band and crew: They said they saw it at the show, and not at sound check. You can’t tell people there was no laceration when it’s documented, and we can all see it.”

If Cornell did sustained head trauma, it suggests that he acquired an injury that may have caused a concussion. 

A concussion can cause confusion, memory loss, and unusual behavior such as sudden mood swings, and becoming easily irritated. 

Vicky said that when she talked to him the night of his death he was slurring his speech and that he said he may have taken an Ativan or two.