SEATTLE — After more than three years of contentious litigation, Soundgarden and Vicky Cornell have reached an agreement paving the way for a future Soundgarden album. Though terms of the deal were not disclosed, news of the accord was announced by Cornell, the wife of late frontman Chris Cornell, and the band on Monday.
“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,” read a statement posted on Chris Cornell’s and Soundgarden’s social media accounts. “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. The two parties are united and coming together to propel, honor and build upon Soundgarden’s incredible legacy as well as Chris’s indelible mark on music history — as one of the greatest songwriters and vocalists of all time.”
First filed in Florida before being transferred to Washington state, Cornell initiated the lawsuit back in 2019, preventing the band from using vocal recordings her husband had made before he died. The band claimed the seven recordings were intended for a future Soundgarden album that had been in the works at the time of the singer’s death in 2017. The album would be the band’s first new studio effort since 2012’s “King Animal,” which came together after the group reunited with a surprise Showbox gig two years earlier.
