50 Fun Facts About Soundgarden

In which city was Soundgarden formed in 1984?

Seattle. Cornell grew up there, left school as a teenager and was working as a sous-chef at a restaurant called Ray's Boathouse before the band took off.

Chris Cornell wrote and sang the theme song for which James Bond film?

Casino Royale. Cornell refused to work the film's title into the lyrics, so You Know My Name became the first Bond theme since Octopussy in 1983 not to share its name with the movie.

Who played lead guitar in Soundgarden?

Kim Thayil. He learned drop-D tuning from the Melvins' Buzz Osborne during a chat about Black Sabbath, showed it to his bandmates, and the heavier sound became a staple of the band's riffs.

Which instrument did Chris Cornell play while singing in Soundgarden's first year?

Drums. In 1985 his friend Scott Sundquist took over the kit so that Cornell could step out front and concentrate on singing.

Who was Soundgarden's drummer from 1986 onward?

Matt Cameron. As a 15-year-old he sang Puberty Love, the song that is blasted at the monsters to finish them off in the 1978 cult film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.

Who was Soundgarden's original bassist?

Hiro Yamamoto. He quit in 1989 and went back to college, and the punk bassist ended up as chief of organic chemistry at a lab that tests drinking water.

Which former Nirvana member briefly played bass for Soundgarden in 1989–90?

Jason Everman. A few years after leaving both bands he gave up music, enlisted in the US Army in 1994 and went on to serve with the Rangers and Special Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Who became Soundgarden's bassist in 1990 for the classic line-up?

Ben Shepherd. By his own telling, Nirvana first met their early drummer, who was then playing in Shepherd's band, through him.

The lakeside sculpture A Sound Garden, which gave Soundgarden its name, makes its sounds using what?

The wind. Each steel tower holds an organ pipe on a weather vane that swings into the breeze, and because it stands on a federal NOAA campus, visitors have had to show photo ID to see it.

Which 1986 compilation carried Soundgarden's first recordings?

Deep Six. The first release on the tiny local C/Z label, it also carried Green River and the Melvins, and a major label reissued it in 1994, after grunge had gone mainstream.

Which hometown label released Soundgarden's first single and EP in 1987?

Sub Pop. Radio DJ Jonathan Poneman was so struck by an early Soundgarden club show that he put up his own money and went into partnership with founder Bruce Pavitt to get their records out.

What was Soundgarden's first single, released in 1987?

Hunted Down. The band's guitarist recalled that their label made it the first song on its telephone hold tape, so anyone left waiting on the line to the office heard it.

Who managed Soundgarden from 1986 and later married Cornell?

Susan Silver. She also managed Alice in Chains, whose guitarist Jerry Cantrell wrote their hit Rooster while staying in a little spare room at her and Cornell's house.

Which independent label released Soundgarden's debut album, Ultramega OK, in 1988?

SST. Unhappy with the final mix, the band meant to redo it straight away, but a major-label deal swept them along and the remixed version did not appear until a 2017 reissue.

Which major label made Soundgarden the first grunge band with a major deal?

A&M. Its interest followed a radio DJ's cassette of unsigned local acts, titled Bands That Will Make Money, which was sent round the record companies and set labels calling.

Soundgarden's first music video was for which song from their debut album, Ultramega OK?

Flower. On the recording the guitarist laid his guitar beside the amp and blew across the strings in time with the beat, getting a hum he likened to a sitar.

Which 1989 album was Soundgarden's major-label debut and their first to reach the Billboard 200?

Louder Than Love. Its crudest song, Big Dumb Sex, was meant as a send-up of sex-obsessed rock, though the band's own bassist hated it and took it for the real thing.

MTV refused to air the video for which Soundgarden song from Badmotorfinger in 1991?

Jesus Christ Pose. The guitarist said the channel disliked its image of a girl on a cross; the song itself takes aim at public figures who strike a martyr's pose.

Which band took Soundgarden out as its opening act on an arena tour starting in December 1991?

Guns N' Roses. Two years later the headliners put part of Soundgarden's Big Dumb Sex on their own covers album, in a medley with a T. Rex song.

What is notable about the title of Soundgarden's 1992 EP Satanoscillatemymetallicsonatas?

It is a palindrome. Spaced out, it reads 'Satan oscillate my metallic sonatas' in both directions; the EP came as a bonus disc with Badmotorfinger, issued to mark the band's Lollapalooza dates.

In which 1992 film did Soundgarden perform Birth Ritual?

Singles. The song's heavy riff came from the drummer, and it had missed the band's previous album only because its chorus was not finished in time.

Which Soundgarden album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in March 1994?

Superunknown. Getting there wore the band down: Cornell said producer Michael Beinhorn fussed over sounds for so long that by the time they could record a song they were sick of playing it.

Which Soundgarden single won the 1995 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance?

Black Hole Sun. The title was a phrase Cornell thought he heard a TV news anchor say; he liked the mishearing so much that he wrote the song in his head on the drive home from a studio.

Which Soundgarden single won the 1995 Grammy for Best Metal Performance?

Spoonman. Artis the Spoonman, the street performer it is named after, plays the spoons on the track, while the band's drummer joins in on pots and pans.

Which poet's work is said to have inspired Chris Cornell's lyrics on Soundgarden's 1994 album?

Sylvia Plath. The lyrics dwell on depression and death, yet the band's guitarist heard the album as rejoicing in life, joking: 'Life is good, but death's gonna be even better!'

Why did Soundgarden cancel shows in late 1994?

Cornell strained his vocal cords. Five or six shows a week had worn his voice down, and the band called off dates rather than charge fans 'to see some guy croak for two hours'.

What was Soundgarden's fifth album, released in May 1996?

Down on the Upside. The band produced it themselves, and Cornell's push away from their heavy riffing is said to have set off clashes with the guitarist; within a year of its release they had split.

Which band headlined the 1996 Lollapalooza tour, with Soundgarden also on the bill?

Metallica. The headliners are said to have insisted on Soundgarden's place on the tour, and Soundgarden in turn pushed for the Ramones to be added to the bill.

In which city did Soundgarden's bassist storm off stage at their last show before the 1997 split?

Honolulu. He threw his bass in the air and stalked off on the final night of a world tour; a local reviewer hoped it was only exhaustion, but two months later the band announced its break-up.

Johnny Cash covered which Soundgarden song on his 1996 album Unchained?

Rusty Cage. Cash's country reworking sat on an album that went on to win the Grammy for Best Country Album, and Cornell dedicated the song on stage in 1997 to 'the man in black'.

Which supergroup did Cornell front with members of Rage Against the Machine?

Audioslave. Producer Rick Rubin recommended Cornell to the three players, who had lost their own singer, and the new line-up made three albums before he quit in 2007.

Which producer made Cornell's 2009 solo album Scream?

Timbaland. The hip-hop producer swapped Cornell's guitars for electronic beats, a turn that bemused many of his rock fans but gave him his first top-ten solo album in the US.

Which band did Soundgarden's drummer join full-time after the 1997 split?

Pearl Jam. He was brought in to cover a 1998 tour after their drummer left, and the stand-in stayed for 27 years before leaving in 2025.

Chris Cornell formed which 1990 tribute project after the death of his roommate, singer Andrew Wood?

Temple of the Dog. Its one album sold modestly in 1991, then went platinum when it was reissued a year later, after its members' main bands had become stars.

What did Chris Cornell's New Year 2010 tweet, announcing Soundgarden's reunion, say would 'ride again'?

Knights of the Soundtable. 'The 12 year break is over & school is back in session,' the tweet began, and that April the band played its first show in 13 years.

Soundgarden's 2010 compilation Telephantasm was bundled with which video game?

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. A million discs went out inside the game's boxes, enough for the album to be certified platinum on its first day.

Which Soundgarden song appeared on the soundtrack of The Avengers (2012)?

Live to Rise. Billed as the band's first all-new song in 15 years, it was written for the film and given away as a free iTunes download for its first week.

What was the title of Soundgarden's 2012 comeback album?

King Animal. It began when the drummer booked studio time in late 2010 to play the others some ideas, and one track revived a guitar riff that had sat unused since the 1990s.

Who directed the video for Soundgarden's By Crooked Steps?

Dave Grohl. He played it for laughs, casting the band as a biker gang that rides Segways and ends up in a very slow police chase, with the DJ deadmau5 making a cameo.

Which band co-headlined a 2014 North American tour with Soundgarden?

Nine Inch Nails. The pairing had history: on a single day in March 1994 both bands released new albums, and the two records entered the US chart at numbers one and two.

In which city did Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell die in May 2017?

Detroit. Soundgarden had played the city's Fox Theatre that night, less than three weeks into a tour; the remaining dates were cancelled, and the band did not play again until a tribute concert for him in 2019.

Under what anagram of the band's name have Soundgarden's surviving members performed?

Nudedragons. The reunited band first used the name to bill its comeback show in 2010, and the three surviving members revived it for a children's hospital benefit in December 2024.

Which comic actor inducted Soundgarden into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2025?

Jim Carrey. He had insisted on Soundgarden as the musical guest when he first hosted Saturday Night Live in 1996, and after the show the band gave him the guitar Cornell had played, signed by all four.

Which two singers fronted Soundgarden at the 2025 Hall of Fame ceremony?

Taylor Momsen and Brandi Carlile. Both had stood in before: each sang with the surviving members at the 2019 tribute concert for Cornell, the band's first show without him.

Which producer of two early Soundgarden albums returned, as confirmed in November 2025, for their final record?

Terry Date. The band's guitarist praised him as a producer with no signature sound of his own, one who asks to co-produce and then helps 'the band be the band'.

Which Soundgarden song has Chris Cornell 'looking California and feeling Minnesota'?

Outshined. Cornell wrote the line on tour after catching himself in a mirror: he felt low but, in a T-shirt and baggy shorts, looked like a carefree beach kid.

Which singer shares the lead vocal with Chris Cornell on the 1991 song Hunger Strike?

Eddie Vedder. Cornell was struggling with the low part in rehearsal when the newcomer, in town to meet his own new bandmates, walked up to the microphone and sang it for him.

Which video game series licensed Soundgarden's music in 1994 for a new CD-based edition?

Road Rash. The band's label first turned the deal down flat, but the members were fans who played the game on their tour bus, and their enthusiasm changed its mind.

Which Pantera album was partly inspired by Soundgarden's second record?

Cowboys from Hell. Pantera's members say Soundgarden's record blew them away, and it helped push the former glam-metal band toward the far heavier sound of their breakthrough.

Chris Cornell turned which Michael Jackson hit into a slow acoustic lament on his 2007 album Carry On?

Billie Jean. A year later David Cook sang Cornell's arrangement on American Idol, on his way to winning the season.