Chris Cornell’s Daughter Shares a Beautiful Tribute and Song for Her Late Father

Her cover of Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike" marks the track's 30th anniversary

Toni Cornell, daughter of Chris Cornell
Toni Cornell, daughter of late singer Chris Cornell, at the Grammys in 2019.
VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images

Toni Cornell, the daughter of late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, has left a touching tribute to her father on Instagram, marking the 30th anniversary of one of the singer’s most iconic songs.

As Toni wrote: “Hunger Strike was released 30 years ago today. It’s not only one of the most iconic songs of all time but one of my personal favorites. I recorded it for Music Lives to raise money for covid relief in April 2020 and in tribute to my dad who would have been the first to do everything he could to help.”

Toni’s performance was resurfaced from last April, when the singer (at the time just 15) performed the song for Music Lives, a benefit for the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund.

It was thirty years ago this week that Temple of the Dog — a one-off musical project featuring members of Soundgarden and Mother Love Bone — released “Hunger Strike.” The superstar band (although they weren’t superstars at the time) had come together to pay tribute to Andrew Wood, Chris Cornell’s friend and former roommate who fronted MLB, who died of a heroin overdose. It was also probably the first time anyone had heard Eddie Vedder, who guested on the track. Vedder and most of the remaining members of Mother Love Bone eventually released their first album together a few months later as Pearl Jam, and the rest is rock history.

Chris Cornell took his own life at the age of 52 back in 2017. His estate released a collection of the singer’s cover songs this past December. Toni Cornell and her brother Christopher host a podcast entitled Stop the Stigma: Tackling the Stigma of Addiction Through Education, which “explore(s) how stigma is hampering our efforts to combat addiction, what actionable steps can be taken to address this issue.”

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