Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee has offered a touching and deeply personal tribute to Chris Cornell. Along with calling Cornell’s voice “deeply soulful,” Lee described how Soundgarden “changed what metal was to me.”

Chris Cornell was a talent at the highest level of rock. If you didn’t realize it simply through his music, the flood of tributes alone proves how adored he was amongst his fellow musicians. When it comes to 21st century rock titans, there aren’t many superstars on the level of Amy Lee, who took a moment to write a heartfelt memoriam for Cornell.

Cornell’s influence on Amy runs deeper than one would assume. In fact, when Evanescence was recording their monstrously successful Fallen album, Amy Lee would tap into Soundgarden for inspiration. Lee wrote on Facebook:

Chris Cornell was one of my favorite vocalists of all time. ‪When we were recording Fallen, I would sit in the car in the studio parking lot every morning before going in and warm up my voice to‬ ‘Fell on Black Days.’ I loved how deeply soulful he was- it was such a beautiful and unique combination between his bluesy soulful wailing and the dark, heavy music. It was so much cooler than just screaming, which would have been the more obvious match to the music. That’s what made it special. They changed what metal was to me. Expanded the boundaries…
There have been way too many tragic, early deaths in the music industry lately. Why are we so lost? Cornell moved and inspired so many people. SO many…
For now my thoughts are here: No one is immortal. Everyone feels the pain. No one has a perfect life. We have to remember our fragility- that of the people we love, look up to, even our enemies. You never know what people are really going through on the inside, so we must take extreme care. And love the best we can, while there’s still time.

“I’m only faking when I get it right…” Oh, how I’ve always related to that line. Knowing you felt that way made me stronger.

Farewell to another hero. Thank you for sharing your heart, your search light soul with us.

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