archived stories from March 2007
30 Mar 2007
According to the website of the Musician's Institute, Chris will be touring for a period of sixteen months! He held five days of auditions at the Hollywood music school and recruited guitarists Peter Thorn and Yogi Lonich, who studied and taught at the school respectively. The rest of his touring band are bassist Corey McCormick and drummer Jason Sutter. More details to follow here. (thanks to Gage at 'Slaved for letting me know who played at KROQ last night and starting me on the research trail...)
There is a competition here to win all-expenses paid trips to the Hyde Park Calling show in London on June 24, where Chris is second on the bill to Aerosmith. There is also a grand prize offering trips around the world to some of the other shows in the Ambassadors of Rock series, of which Hyde Park is the opening date. We don't know whether Chris will be playing the other cities listed (Buenos Aires, Caracas, Dubai, Singapore, Tokyo, Las Vegas, Hollywood...) but it's probably worth a go even if he's not. You need to be 18 or older, and hold a valid passport. Any nationality can enter, but not (for some reason) if you live in Quebec or Puerto Rico.
29 Mar 2007
Chris's 5-song live radio session at KROQ today will shortly be made available in their archive and a video version may also be available via AT&T's Blue Room.
Following the meet-and-greet competition for Chris's US tour (winners now listed on the official site), something else is afoot and everyone is urged to make sure they're subscribed to the official mailing list at chriscornell.com. From Bill Murrin:
Something else is going down folks. If you are not signed up for his mailing list, I highly suggest you do so ASAP! Chris's mailing list will be informed about this before the public sites are. Consider this your only warning until after it happens! -Bill
Looks like more tickets and passes for the tour - but stay glued to cyberspace to find out what you have to do to get them! No sleep till Vegas...
28 Mar 2007
Re Chris's forthcoming live session, Kevin & Bean on Los Angeles's KROQ radio station have distributed the following cryptic message to those on their mailing list: (thanks PJfreak)
"Hey computer-literate listeners, Chris Cornell is performing live in our little 15' square studio Thursday morning at 8. He'll be doing songs from Soundgarden, Audioslave, and Temple of the Dog! Chris is bringing a band, fully plugged in, which probably won't be able to fit completely in our studio. So we thought it would be fun to make things worse by slathering up a few hardcore fans with Astroglide and forcing their fat asses into the studio with Chris. We'll also throw in an autographed copy of his new CD called "Carry On" which comes out June 5th. Bad idea? You bet. But we're doing one pair of tix on the air and the other pair OFF the air just for you street team members. So keep your pieholes shut so you have a better chance at the lube. Just listen for Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun tomorrow morning, Wednesday, March 28th and be caller 20 when you hear it sometime between 6 and 7 A.M. No mention on the air. Good luck. Don't be bad. Peace out. Word is bond. Kevin & Bean"
...and if you can sort out what all that means, you're a lot cleverer than I am.
For those of us in Europe, it looks like Chris might be doing some summer festivals during June after an initial run of theatre dates in May. He's now on the bill (supporting Aerosmith again) for the Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium on 22 June. Details on the tour page.
By the way, fans in Europe WILL have the same chance as US fans did at winning passes for a meet-and-greet with Chris, but no news yet on when this contest will happen. (thanks Bill)
27 Mar 2007
There's some retail confusion about over when we'll be able to get our hands on carry on. Amazon.com has a pricey import version (though it doesn't say from where) up for pre-order here with an early release date of May 10 (thanks CTGolden). Meanwhile HMV.co.uk is still showing a release date of April 30.
Photographer Ross Halfin, currently in Los Angeles, describes watching and photographing Chris rehearsing with his "tight and heavy" band for his upcoming tour. "He does Spoonman, Rusty Cage, Black Hole Sun, Burden In My Hand, Jesus Christ Pose and Seasons, plus a few Audioslave songs. I suggest Slaves And Bulldozers and Mind Riot which he says is a good idea. I also tell him to do Blind Dogs - he has no idea how it even goes.." Read the whole blog entry here at Ross's site.
Chris Cornell's street team is now recruiting! There's also a competition for 5 pairs of tickets (plus the chance to meet Chris) in each city he's visiting on the US spring tour. Enter your details for both the contest and inclusion on the street team register here! No news yet on whether a similar scheme will apply to the European dates, but watch this space...! (thanks Bill)
26 Mar 2007
Chris will be giving a live performance on Los Angeles's KROQ - tune in to Kevin & Bean's Los Angeles radio show on Thursday 29 March at 8 am local time (thanks CTGolden).
24 Mar 2007
A new official website and forum has been launched for Chris on his old domain chriscornell.com, so go and join up here!
Another track from the new album, Arms Around Your Love, is included on a Suretone promotional CD called The Roads We Choose - A Retrospective (thanks PJfreak) which includes songs from the whole of Chris's career as a singer with Temple Of The Dog, Soundgarden and Audioslave as well as as a solo artist. Interestingly, The Roads We Choose was a working title for the Audioslave song Out Of Exile - see here.
23 Mar 2007
Chris will be the featured guest on the US live radio show "Rockline" on June 4. The show begins at 8.30 pm PT or 11.30 pm ET. Fans can phone in questions during the program on (800) 344-ROCK (7625). Stations carrying the show are listed here.
For fans on the other side of the pond: according to the NME, Chris has been added to the bill for the second night of legendary open-air festival Hyde Park Calling in London on June 24 2007 (see tour page). Headliners for the day are Aerosmith.
21 Mar 2007
Chris, who has been a recovering alcoholic for some years, is to receive the Stevie Ray Vaughan Award "for his dedication and support of the MusiCares MAP Fund and his devotion to helping other addicts with the recovery process." The fund provides members of the music community access to addiction recovery treatment, regardless of their financial situation. Chris will receive the award at a special charity dinner and concert at the Music Box in Hollywood on May 11, at which he will perform. Full details in this press release.
20 Mar 2007
Chris has spoken to Billboard about his forthcoming tour (thanks Matt). Although only eleven North American dates have been announced so far, he says he's "excited to visit new parts of the world on the road. I've played like two shows in my life in Latin America, with the exception of one or two shows Soundgarden played in Mexico." The shape of things to come, perhaps?
19 Mar 2007
Chris's PR has put out another press release describing the forthcoming promo tour as an "eleven-city North American jaunt" offering a "career retrospective". Tour dates and ticket details as available are listed here.
Judging by promo CDs made available to US radio stations and for sale on eBay, No Such Thing will be the first single from Carry On, as expected (thanks PJFreak). No word yet on whether it will be released for retail sale in Europe as a follow-up to You Know My Name.
17 Mar 2007
Car enthusiast Chris is to play an unusual free show on April 6 at the Las Vegas Grand Prix Friday Night Street Party. According to their press release, "The Vegas Grand Prix is a three-day festival of speed and entertainment being held April 6-8, 2007 that will encircle the heart of downtown Las Vegas. The weekend will feature rock concerts, a celebrity poker tournament, Easter services, an impressive Easter egg hunt and culminate in the internationally televised 2007 series opener for the Champ Car World Series." Other artists include rock band Army of Anyone, Stockholm-based band The Teddybears and country duo Big & Rich with Cowboy Troy. Official site for the race weekend is here.
Also, more Ross Halfin shots.... (thanks Mel).
16 Mar 2007
Ross Halfin has posted yet more b/w photos of Chris from his recent session (thanks Mel).
An interview which Chris gave to WMMR is available to download from this radio station link (thanks NothingToSay). He talks about the new album and "extensive" tour, how he came to do a Michael Jackson cover, and gives some insight into the breakup of Audioslave.
14 Mar 2007
Chris was interviewed today on local radio in the US. A fan who heard an interview (thanks PJfreak) says that Chris explained he would be playing with a full band, and that he will be playing songs from his entire career - Soundgarden, TOTD, EM, Audioslave and his new songs. No Such Thing received its radio debut (thanks partyofone).
13 Mar 2007
Two more April tour dates are being advertised for Toronto and Boston. All dates are being advertised as "An Evening With Chris Cornell". See the tour page for all details on dates as they appear.
12 Mar 2007
Ticketmaster is showing a Chris Cornell live show at the Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia on 22 April 2007 at 8 pm. (Thanks seafud). According to the site, tickets go on sale on 16 March. No official confirmation as yet. See this link for further details.
Photos have appeared on Wire Image (thanks Mel) and Getty Images Entertainment of Chris with his wife Vicky and their children at the John Varvatos 5th Annual Stuart House Benefit in West Hollywood yesterday. The annual benefit raises money to help child victims of sexual abuse and their families.
10 Mar 2007
On May 22, 2007, Columbia/Legacy is releasing a DVD of the multi-award winning documentary Amazing Grace about the life and work of the late Jeff Buckley, previously seen only on limited release in cinemas. It features an interview with Chris Cornell recorded some years ago now. (Thanks JBIN)
9 Mar 2007
Ross Halfin has added another couple of new photos - this time in glorious black-and-white.
8 Mar 2007
Some album artwork has appeared on the site for Universal Music Poland (thanks Ruslan) with a European release date of May 28 and some of the song titles slightly altered from the February 15 press release. (Click picture to enlarge). No word yet on whether this is the real deal or a pirated mock-up.
Meanwhile British CD retail site HMV.co.uk are showing similar artwork without text - and confusingly, a release date of 30 April.
Meanwhile, Ross Halfin has uploaded more photos from his session with Chris in LA. And he says he has more black-and-white shots which he'll be adding soon! Here are links to the new shots:
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5 Mar 2007
Photographer Ross Halfin has uploaded some beautiful new colour photos of Chris to his blog (thanks Ali). According to Ross they were taken on March 1 in LA, around the Sunset Marquis Hotel and on Sunset Strip.
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1 Mar 2007
According to several reports including this one at LiveDaily.com, the release date for Chris's new solo album Carry On has now been pushed back to June 5.
Chris Cornell Fan Page © Clare O'Brien 2007
