A truly peerless figure on the grunge scene, Chris Cornell sadly passed away on May 18, 2017 at age 52. Cornell founded the rock band Soundgarden in 1984 alongside lead guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. With the Grammy Award-winning singles “Spoonman” and “Black Hole Sun,” Soundgarden helped write the blueprint for the insanely popular grunge movement. Following Cornell’s tragic death, Thayil declared that Soundgarden would not continue without their leader. However, the band’s surviving members once again gathered onstage Saturday (Dec. 14) with vocalist Shaina Shepherd.
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Soundgarden Performs as Nudedragons For First Time In 14 Years
Shaina Shepherd took the helm as the remaining members of Soundgarden reunited at the Showbox in Seattle Saturday (dec. 14) for the 13th annual SMooCH benefit show for the Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist-vocalist Ben Shepherd and drummer-vocalist Matt Cameron joined Shepherd for “a brief encore performance” consisting of six songs. Former Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan also contributed vocals to the set, which you can watch below.
The trio teamed up with Shepherd under the moniker Nudedragons, an anagram for “Soundgarden.” Saturday marked the first performance for “Nudedragons” since 2010, when Cornell and his bandmates launched their reunion under that name.
Any sign of Soundgarden’s remaining members is cause for celebration among ’90s babies. “Yes! I LOVE this!” one Instagram user commented on Nudedragons’ post about the show. “Exactly what the world needs.”
Another added, “Chris Will be proud of you!!”
[RELATED: 4 Songs You Didn’t Know Chris Cornell Wrote Solo for Soundgarden]
More About Shaina Shepherd
Shaina Shepherd is a singer-songwriter and community organizer based in Soundgarden’s hometown of Seattle. Previously heading up the Seattle grunge band Bearaxe, this wasn’t Shepherd’s first time to perform alongside Chris Cornell’s bandmates. She joined Kim Thayil in 2020 for the Museum of Pop Culture’s Founders Award event honoring Alice in Chains. The pair covered AIC’s “It Ain’t Like That” and “What the Hell Have I.”
The next year, Shepherd again teamed up with Thayil and Cameron to perform Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” and “Searching With My Good Eye Closed” with Brandi Carlile in Seattle.
Featured image by Neil Rasmus/BFA.com/Shutterstock
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