Soundgarden and late frontman Chris Cornell’s widow have settled a lawsuit over his recordings.
Vicky Cornell sued the surviving members of the band – Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd – in 2019, claiming they were withholding royalties from her over seven unreleased recordings made by Chris before his death in 2017.
Her suit insisted there was never any explicit agreement that these songs were for Soundgarden and that her late husband was the exclusive owner of them but she agreed to share the recordings for a potential new album so long as they used one of Chris’ “trusted producers” and kept her informed about any marketing strategy. However, she claimed the band didn’t comply with her conditions.
In Soundgarden’s suit, they denied her previous claims and accused Vicky of trying to “extort” royalties.
However, both parties have settled the case out of court and have agreed to work together in harmony to bring fans the posthumous recordings.
Both sides said in a statement: “Soundgarden and Vicky Cornell, on behalf of the Estate of Chris Cornell, are happy to announce they have reached an amicable out of court resolution.
“The reconciliation marks a new partnership between the two parties, which will allow Soundgarden fans around the world to hear the final songs that the band and Chris were working on.”
No further details about the resolution have been made public.
Responding to Vicky’s allegations at the time, the ‘Black Hole Sun’ group wrote: “The Complaint is an offensive recitation of false allegations and accusations. Soundgarden categorically denies every material contention lobbed by Vicky Cornell, who filed her Complaint – rashly and without good cause – with the true purpose of extorting Soundgarden into conceding rights to which she is not legally entitled, and of coercing Soundgarden to prematurely distribute Soundgarden funds to her.
“This legal action by Vicky Cornell is lamentable, preventable, and spurious.”
Before making the agreement, the band had also sought “compensatory and general damages in an amount to be proven at trial,” as well as injunctions and declarations related to copyright, punitive and exemplary damages, and other relief to be decided by a court.
Chris tragically died by suicide on May 18, 2017, aged 52.