Song:You Know My Name
Album:Carry On
Chris Cornell was best known as lead singer of Soundgarden and then Audioslave. But he also had plenty of side projects and he recorded several solo albums. Though he never had a hit single as a solo artist, You Know My Name is probably his best known song because it was the theme for the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale. He was born Christopher John Boyle July 20, 1964 in Seattle. After his parents divorce, he and his six siblings took their mom's maiden name Cornell as their surname. Cornell formed Soundgarden in 1984 and it's generally accepted that they were one of the architects of the Seattle grunge sound of the early 90s. After Soundgarden split up in 1997, Cornell released his 1999 solo debut album Euphoria Morning. Instead of following that up, Cornell became lead singer of Audioslave in 2001. The rest of that band was Rage Against The Machine minus Zach De La Rocha. They were successful until Cornell left in 2006. Then he goes to work on the 2007 CD Carry On with veteran producer Steve Lilywhite. While he was working on the album, Sony Pictures called Cornell and asked him if he was interested in writing a song for Casino Royale. Apparently the film producers wanted a strong male voice for the theme. Cornell went to the set in Prague and he was shown a rough cut of the film. And he tossed ideas around with film composer David Arnold. Cornell wrote the lyrics and went to Arnold's house in London to finish the song. Cornell said his vocal performance was influenced by Tom Jones. The odd thing was that You Know My Name is not on the Casino Royale soundtrack CD. Cornell chose to have it on Carry On. He said he wanted the song to be his own, not just a James Bond movie song. That album is available as a budget CD. Bond fans can get it on the CD The Best Of Bond...James Bond. Cornell released two more solo albums and Soundgarden reformed in 2012. Chris Cornell died on May 18, 2017 at age 52. He was on tour in Detroit. The death was ruled suicide by hanging. Cornell's substance abuse and depression history was well known and this led to his death. Even someone as famous as Chris Cornell couldn't get the help he needed for mental illness. Here's the video of You Know My Name by Chris Cornell.
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