Remembering Seattle rock legend Chris Cornell

May 18, 2018, 4:06 PM | Updated: May 21, 2018, 2:27 pm

Mourners gather at the the Sound Garden sculpture, for which the band Soundgarden was named, in Seattle's Magnuson Park in tribute to Chris Cornell, Thursday, May 18, 2017. The sculpture features vertical, organ-like pipes that make sounds depending upon wind direction and speed, and overlooks Lake Washington. Cornell, one of the most lauded and respected contemporary lead singers in rock music with his bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, hanged himself Wednesday in a Detroit hotel room, according to the city's medical examiner. He was 52. (Grant Hindsley/seattlepi.com via AP)

People sit quietly around the Sound Garden sculpture, for which the band Soundgarden was named, in Seattle's Magnuson Park, Thursday, May 18, 2017. Chris Cornell, one of the most lauded and respected contemporary lead singers in rock music with his bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, hanged himself Wednesday in a Detroit hotel room, according to the city's medical examiner. He was 52. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Suzanne Colgan, left, sits in the grass as Chad White walks his son Ignatius through the Sound Garden sculpture, for which the band Soundgarden was named, in Seattle's Magnuson Park in tribute to Chris Cornell, Thursday, May 18, 2017. Both Colgan and White, fans of the band, came to the park to honor Cornell. Seattle awoke Thursday to the news of the death of Cornell, 52, among its most famous musicians and one whose forceful, somber songs helped cement the citys place in rock history. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

People sit in the grass near a flower-covered bench at the Sound Garden sculpture, for which the band Soundgarden was named, in Seattle's Magnuson Park, Thursday, May 18, 2017. Seattle awoke Thursday to the news of the death of Cornell, 52, among its most famous musicians and one whose forceful, somber songs helped cement the citys place in rock history. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Chad White lifts his son Ignatius as he stands near a flower-covered bench at the Sound Garden sculpture, for which the band Soundgarden was named, in Seattle's Magnuson Park in tribute to Chris Cornell, Thursday, May 18, 2017. Cornell, one of the most lauded and respected contemporary lead singers in rock music with his bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, hanged himself Wednesday in a Detroit hotel room, according to the city's medical examiner. He was 52. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Flowers sit on a bench at the Sound Garden sculpture, for which the band Soundgarden was named, in Seattle's Magnuson Park in tribute to Chris Cornell, Thursday, May 18, 2017. The sculpture features vertical, organ-like pipes that make sounds depending upon wind direction and speed, and overlooks Lake Washington. Cornell, one of the most lauded and respected contemporary lead singers in rock music with his bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, hanged himself Wednesday in a Detroit hotel room, according to the city's medical examiner. He was 52. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

A family walks through the Sound Garden sculpture, for which the band Soundgarden was named, in Seattle's Magnuson Park, Thursday, May 18, 2017. Chris Cornell, one of the most lauded and respected contemporary lead singers in rock music with his bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, hanged himself Wednesday in a Detroit hotel room, according to the city's medical examiner. He was 52. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

A tribute to singer Chris Cornell is shown on a video display at Safeco Field in Seattle before a baseball game between the Seattle Mariners and the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, May 18, 2017. Cornell, who was born and raised in Seattle and was part of the group of artists who formed the grunge scene, died Wednesday in Detroit, following a performance of his band, Soundgarden. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Mourners attend a memorial for Chris Cornell on Thursday, May 18, 2017, in Seattle. Cornell, one of the most lauded and respected contemporary lead singers in rock music with his bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, hanged himself Wednesday in a Detroit hotel room, according to the city's medical examiner. He was 52. (Grant Hindsley/seattlepi.com via AP)

Mourners yell "Chris!" followed by a moment of silence during a memorial for Chris Cornell on Thursday, May 18, 2017, in Seattle. Cornell, one of the most lauded and respected contemporary lead singers in rock music with his bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, hanged himself Wednesday in a Detroit hotel room, according to the city's medical examiner. He was 52. (Grant Hindsley/seattlepi.com via AP)

A woman wipes her eyes during a memorial for Chris Cornell on Thursday, May 18, 2017, in Seattle. Cornell, one of the most lauded and respected contemporary lead singers in rock music with his bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, hanged himself Wednesday in a Detroit hotel room, according to the city's medical examiner. He was 52. (Grant Hindsley/seattlepi.com via AP)

BY RON UPSHAW

Former KIRO Newsradio Host

Chris Cornell died one year ago on May 18, 2017. I never met him, but he was always one degree of separation away from the crowd I ran in back in the day. I use to play flag football with his brother on Saturdays. Somehow, like many of you, I felt that we were kindred spirits through his music.

If you’re a music fan, his passing was just another body blow of one great artist after the next. It was a nightmare sequence. In rapid succession we lost Prince, Chris Cornell, and Tom Petty. All very different, musically, but each had that special thing that made them timeless.

Chris Cornell had the greatest rock voice since Robert Plant, hands down. Prince combined the best of funk, R&B, rock, and pop to conjure his own slinky, sexy music. And Petty’s tunes sounded like they just materialized from the super ego of Americana. Crank them up with the window down while your friend puts her bare feet up on the dashboard and sings along.

If you came of age in my generation, songs by these artists will conjure very specific memories.

Asking my little league teammate Doug at baseball practice if he’d heard “Darling Nikki” yet from Prince’s Purple Rain. It was the most scandalous song I’d ever heard.

Looking at myself in the mirror in the early ’90s Seattle. I’d just grown my hair out long and was trying to figure out how to do the shorts over long johns look like Chris Cornell. I couldn’t pull it off.

Attaching my feelings of crushing on a pretty girl I knew to the song “American Girl.” It seemed like Petty understood what it was like to long for someone just out of your league.

PHOTO: The funeral of a Seattle rock icon

I have such vivid memories of driving through Bothell and Kirkland and Juanita listening to Soundgarden’s “Spoonman” and then “Black Hole Sun” as loud as my crappy speakers could go. It was no small feat for me then to scrape together the $15 needed to buy a new CD. I would marvel at Chris Cornell’s range. How does he hit those notes? How is his voice even possible?

How is this even possible that it’s been a year?

At some point today, crank up some Badmotorfinger and be glad you lived in the same town as one of the greatest singers in Rock & Roll history.

You can hear “What are we talking about here?” everyday at 4:45 p.m. on 97.3 FM.

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