Chris Cornell's daughter Toni remembers Soundgarden frontman on Father's Day
Chris Cornell‘s daughter has shared her memories of the late Soundgarden frontman, who she described as her “best friend”.
Cornell died in May 2017 at the age of 52. He had taken his own life in Detroit, Michigan shortly after he’d performed a show with his band in the city.
In celebration of Father’s Day, Toni Cornell, 15, remembered her dad during a Billboard Instagram takeover yesterday (June 21).
“I’m so grateful that I was lucky enough to have a dad who was also my best friend,” she said.
“Music was our life, so it really created a special bond between the two of us, even when we weren’t on the road. Here in this studio, he taught me how to play the guitar, how to record songs.”
Toni then remembered spending time with her father as he penned new material. “Being here in this room, I feel like I’m around him, and really makes this my happy place,” she said.
Offering viewers a tour of the workspace, she explained: “This was one of my dad’s go-to guitars for writing music. And this was the first real guitar he bought me at 10 or 11.”
Toni also recalled being given her very first guitar as a child, though she was unable to play it due to a finger injury.
“So six stitches later, my dad taught me how to play with three fingers,” she said. “A highlight moment of mine was when he was so proud of me he actually told Jimmy Page the story, who then asked me to show him. So thank you, Dad. No pressure at all!”
Elsewhere, Toni showcased some of Cornell’s handwritten lyrics, his studio desk, his glasses as well as other family keepsakes. You can watch the broadcast here for a limited time.
Earlier this year, Toni Cornell $20,000 to charity from the proceeds she made from her cover of Sinead O’Connor’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’, on which she collaborated with her late father.
She has previously shared original solo material, with her first single ‘Far Away Places’’ – which was produced by Chris Cornell – arriving in September of last year.
