There’s no doubt that a quick search on YouTube will bring up plenty of brilliant Chris Cornell performances. The beloved Soundgarden lead vocalist, who died unexpectedly Wednesday night, quickly emerged as one of rock’s best singers as he came up through the Seattle scene in the 1980s and the Grunge movement of the ’90s. Indeed, over the course of his great career, several major publications named him one of the great vocalists of all time, and it only takes listening to a few of his songs to understand why.
But if you’re going to pick one with which to mourn his untimely death, may we suggest this relatively recent heartbreaker. A few years ago, Cornell dropped by the SiriusXM studios for an interview and stuck around the studio to perform “Nothing Compares 2 U,” the song written and composed by Prince and popularized by Sinéad O’Connor. It’s a sweet, sad track on its own, but Cornell infuses it with such depth through his powerful vocals that he brings it to soulful new life. It might leave you teary, but let this serve as one of many reminders: The guy could sing.
