![\"Chris](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Chris-Cornell-Audioslave-Soundgarden-Solo-Far-Out-Magazine-Colour-1140x855.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Credit: Andreas Eldh<\/p>\n
Sun 14 June 2026 1:00, UK <\/p>\n
There are countless vocalists who are still wishing that they could figure out what Chris Cornell<\/a> did with his voice. <\/p>\n Cornell wasn\u2019t the one trying to become one of the finest singers in the world, but when he let his voice go and unleashed his higher register, there\u2019s hardly any other band that could have possibly competed with that Zeppelin-esque thunder that he had whenever he sang tunes like \u2018Spoonman\u2019. He was the archetype for how an alternative rock frontman should sound, but it\u2019s not like Cornell had to stay tied to his one band for the rest of his life if he didn\u2019t want to.<\/p>\n Every one of Soundgarden\u2019s records was about going in a new direction, and by the time that they landed on Down on the Upside, they seemed to do all that they were capable of together. They didn\u2019t hate each other by any means, but Cornell needed to let his creative energy out in another way, and the rest of the world was more than happy to go along for the ride when he formed bands like Audioslave.<\/p>\n A supergroup with the members of Rage Against the Machine<\/a> was just crazy enough to work when Cornell reached the 2000s, but he was never trying to find a band to replace his old one, though. He was offered the gig after Rage broke up, and while they continued on for a few more albums, Cornell felt that he would be much more comfortable on his own. But it\u2019s not like he didn\u2019t still have a great deal of respect for his musical heroes.<\/p>\n He was trying to make the kind of eclectic moves that he heard out of all of his musical heroes<\/a>, and that meant trying new things all the time. Nick Drake and Neil Young didn\u2019t get to where they were by following what other people wanted out of their music, and when you listen to what Cornell was doing throughout his career, he wanted to see where his muse would take him every time he made a new record.<\/p>\n Then again, someone who was as big a Zeppelin fan as he was would have gladly taken over for Robert Plant if he were to jam with his heroes. Jimmy Page was the kind of musical maverick that had everything that he loved in a musician, and while Zeppelin would never form a full reunion past the 2000s, Cornell was at least interested in working with the band in any capacity if they were to give him a call.<\/p>\n Anyone else would have been a bit too over their head to think that they could add something to Zeppelin, but Cornell at least seemed open to the idea when asked about it, saying<\/a>, \u201cHe never did [ask me]. But if he did, yeah. I would have to entertain it.\u201d And if you were to look at Cornell\u2019s track record as a vocalist, he would have probably been one of the only people on the planet who could have stepped into Plant\u2019s shoes and held his own.<\/p>\n Further reading: From The Vault<\/strong><\/p>\n There was certainly stiff competition between him and other heavyweights like Sammy Hagar and Steven Tyler, but Cornell would have brought the energy a lot better than what Plant had been doing around that time. Plant was far more content to make music that sounded a lot closer to his roots, and if he was off making more acoustic-oriented rock, the idea of Cornell performing a song like \u2018Black Dog\u2019<\/a> would have come just as easily to him as when he made tunes like \u2018The Day I Tried to Live\u2019.<\/p>\n Now we\u2019ll most likely never know what Cornell would have sounded like if he had shown up to jam, but that kind of opportunity does at least feel like something plausible. But like all great rock and roll \u2018what-ifs\u2019, some of the best lineups that anyone had ever thought of are now reserved for musical heaven.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/faroutmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/far-out-magazine\/img\/google-discover.svg\")
<\/a> The Far Out Led Zeppelin Newsletter<\/p>\n