Music

Celebs React To Chris Cornell's Death

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By Carmen Ribecca and Emily Surpless/

News of 52-year-old Chris Cornell's untimely passing has sent shockwaves across the world. Heartbroken fans have taken to social media to mourn the loss of the legendary singer who broke new ground in the rock world and was generally regarded as having one of the best voices in the industry. A huge number of celebrities also count themselves among Cornell's mourning fan base, and they've also come forward with their own touching tributes to the late Soundgarden frontman. Here are some celebrity reactions to Cornell's sudden death.  

Jimmy Page

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Rock legend and Led Zeppelin guitarist, Jimmy Page, was once interviewed by Cornell during a publicity tour. Cornell, who has cited both Page and Zeppelin as huge influences, described Page's contributions as the "universe you created with acoustic music." Page returned the glowing compliment in his tribute tweet, referring to Cornell as "incredibly talented" and "incredibly missed."

Other rock legends echoed Jimmy Page's sentiments

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Though Cornell made his mark on the rock world starting in the 90s, his forefathers in the genre recognized the valuable contributions he made with both his iconic voice and soulful lyrics. Elton John shared a photo of the Audioslave singer and wrote that he is "shocked and saddened" by Cornell's death.

Aerosmith ax-man Joe Perry referred to Cornell as "a great talent" and shared a photo of a time the two had met.

Alice Cooper called Cornell's voice "incomparable" and included a link to the iTunes page for the 20th Anniversary Deluxe edition of Soundgarden's Superunknown album.  

Dave Navarro

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As a founding member of Jane's Addiction, Dave Navarro was one of Cornell's musical contemporaries who helped usher in the wave of alternative rock that pushed the genre away from the glam rock of the 80s. Navarro was one of the first celebs to react to Cornell's death, tweeting that he was "so so stunned" to hear of it.

Gavin Rossdale

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Like Dave Navarro, Gavin Rossdale and his band Bush came up right alongside Chris Cornell and Soundgarden as pioneers of the grunge movement. But Rossdale was also a fan. He recently told Loudwire how excited he was to be involved with a music festival that both Bush and Soundgarden played just days before Cornell's death. "We are so excited to come play the Northern Invasion. So many killer bands I want to see ... starting with Soundgarden. We plan on bringing the fire," Rossdale said. His tribute tweet reflected his strong feelings towards his fallen colleague.  

Nickelback

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Arguably the opposite of everything Cornell represented musically, pop-rock band Nickelback also expressed their sadness over the "Black Hole Sun" singer's passing. The tweet from their band's account read "Numb & wounded at the news we woke up to today. A gentle soul, a giant voice & a gaping void that can't be filled. Rest easy Chris Cornell." A beautiful sentiment from a band who has likely never been previously mentioned in the same sentence as Soundgarden or Audioslave.

Zac Brown Band

Country rockers the Zac Brown Band called Cornell "a true talent & gentleman" in their remembrance tweet, also mentioning a recent collaboration between them. Cornell contributed vocals and guitar on the band's Jekyll + Hyde album for the track "Heavy Is The Head," which they performed together on SNL.

Marc Maron

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Comedian and podcaster Marc Maron kept his tweet simple, writing, "RIP Chris Cornell. Dark day." He also reposted his 2014 podcast interview of Cornell, which according to SPIN, included Cornell opening up about the unexpected success of Soundgarden, his "youth listening to the Beatles," and "getting sober."

Tomás Ríos

With the coincidence of the disgraced former Fox News head honcho, Roger Ailes dying on the same day as a beloved rock hero, a comparison of the two on Twitter was inevitable. And not exactly pleasant. Vocativ sports senior editor came out swinging with his Ailes/Cornell tweet that suggested the late singer is in heaven "providing vocals to the soundtrack of Roger Ailes's descent into hell." Ouch.

Brad Williams

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Comedian Brad Williams took to Twitter to express his regrets at the news of Cornell's passing, revealing that the rock singer had helped him snag the woman of his dreams. He explained that he proposed to his fianceé while Cornell's version of "Nothing Compares 2 U" played. Why? "Because its simply the most beautiful song ever," Williams stated.

Val Kilmer

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Top Gun actor Val Kilmer also mourned Cornell's passing with a tweet, recalling a time when the rocker played at one of his Hollywood parties. Describing how Cornell would sit in the corner and play music, Kilmer wrote, "all [the] woman [sic] were literally at his feet listenin." Kilmer went on to call Cornell a "real artist."

Josh Groban

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Certainly no one expected Josh Groban to publicly grieve the death of Cornell. But apparently, Cornell had left quite a mark on the "You Raise Me Up" singer. Just hours after news of Cornell's passing was released, Groban tweeted out that he'd grown up "in awe" of the Soundgarden rockstar, admitting that he was envious of Cornell's voice.

Throughout his career, Cornell obviously touched the lives of many, and he will be greatly missed by both friends and fans alike.

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