Chris Cornell’s Guns N’ Roses Cover Commemorates the Late Rocker’s Birthday
A moody studio recording of Chris Cornell covering Guns N' Roses' "Patience" has emerged in celebration of what would be the late Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog singer's 56th birthday.
The previously unreleased version — which one can hear toward the bottom of this post — arrived on Monday (July 20) via Cornell's official website and social media outlets. The track was recorded by Tom Syrowski and mixed by grunge kingpin Brendan O'Brien (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots). A video produced by Toni and Christopher Cornell featuring personal images, including special photos taken at home by friend and photographer Steven Lyon, can be viewed here.
Like Cornell's cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U," the Soundgarden frontman's rendition of "Patience" takes an already ponderous tune and imbues it with a knowing weight. Adorned with percussive loops, synthesizers and drums, Cornell's voice and acoustic guitar lead the cut.
"His birthday seemed the perfect time to share this and celebrate Chris, his voice, music, stories and art," says Vicky Cornell. "It is true a man is not dead while his name is still spoken…and, through his art, an artist's soul still burns just as bright as ever upon all those that look up to him and his memory. Releasing music that was special to Chris keeps a part of him here with us — his heart and his soul. His love and his legacy."
In addition, to honor their dad, Toni and Christopher Cornell are launching two national initiatives to address addiction. In partnership with the Addiction Policy Forum and the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation, they are introducing STOP THE STIGMA,” an educational pilot program that will be brought to high schools around the country. This innovative peer-to-peer initiative empowers young people to tackle the stigma around addiction and teaches teens the science of substance use disorders, prevention and that addiction is a disease and a mental health issue and not a moral flaw.
Toni and Christopher are also launching a podcast, which will explore how stigma is hampering efforts to combat addiction and what actionable steps can be taken to address this. Toni and Christopher will be joined by expert guests, including scientists, policy makers, celebrities and other key individuals who can speak from personal experience and delve deeply into this critical effort to reverse the trend of this devastating epidemic. The first guest on this forum will be world-renowned scientist and Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institute of Health, Dr. Nora Volkow. Dr. Volkow's revolutionary work has had a profound impact on the field of addiction. Among other significant accomplishments, she has pioneered the use of brain imaging to explore how drugs affect the brain and has demonstrated to the world that addiction is in fact a disease.
Cornell died on May 18, 2017, after his bodyguard found him unconscious in a Detroit hotel room. Soundgarden had played a show the previous evening. The musician's death was ruled a death by suicide by authorities.
"Patience" originally appeared on Guns N' Roses' 1988 GN'R Lies album. The Mike Clink-produced album version was released as a single the following year, backed with Appetite for Destruction's "Rocket Queen."
It's not the first time this year that the romantic GNR song has received a bit of renewed interest. In January, a Super Bowl commercial for Saint Archer beer featured a stylized version of the track.
Chris Cornell, "Patience" (Guns N' Roses Cover)
See Chris Cornell in Loudwire's Top 66 Hard Rock + Metal Frontmen of All Time