Chris Cornell, an emblematic grunge rock singer whose sweeping voice masked lifelong struggles with drugs and depression, died after a concert in a possible suicide, police said Thursday. He was 52. Hours after he played in Detroit with his main band Soundgarden on Wednesday evening, first responders rushed to his room at the MGM Grand hotel after being alerted by his family, a police spokeswoman said.
Cornell was found unresponsive and his death "is being treated as a possible suicide," Officer Jennifer Moreno said. The Detroit Free Press reported that a band was found around Cornell's neck. The rocker's wife, Vicky Karayiannis Cornell, and the rest of the family "were shocked to learn of his sudden and unexpected passing, and they will be working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause," the singer's publicist Brian Bumbery said in a statement.
"They would like to thank his fans for their continuous love and loyalty and ask that their privacy be respected at this time," he said. Cornell, with little formal training, possessed one of the music world's most wide-ranging voices which could swing nearly four octaves, moving from a deep baritone to a screechingly high tenor with a chilling vibrato.