When grunge rock icon and former SOUNDGARDEN frontman Chris Cornell died from suicide in middle of a tour in May 2017, the world was caught completely off guard. According to Cornell‘s will, his sole beneficiaries are widow Vicky and their two children along with the Cornell family trust, but soon after his untimely death, the first of many bitter estate battles would surface. After his death, it was estimated Cornell‘s estate was worth more than $60 million, including homes in Rome, Paris and New York. On top of that add in vintage sports cars, custom motorcycles, 13 music awards, numerous guitars and what would become the high-profile focal point of one estate battle — seven unreleased SOUNDGARDEN songs potentially worth millions of dollars. While the biggest fight over money would be between Vicky and surviving members of SOUNDGARDEN over the band’s unreleased tracks, the original feud to make headlines involves Cornell‘s first wife and former manager Susan Silver, who goes to court demanding a piece of his estate seeking money for their daughter Lillian‘s college tuition. “Chris Cornell: “Life, Death & Money”, premiering Sunday, May 9 at 8pm, attempts to unravel the tangled threads of this complicated legal battle.
Cornell was found hanged in his room at the MGM Grand Detroit hotel in May 2017, following a SOUNDGARDEN show at the city’s Fox Theatre. His body was found soon after he had spoken with a “slurred” voice to his wife by phone. The death was ruled a suicide.
