Watch The “I Am The Highway: A Tribute To Chris Cornell Here
Rock artists that honored the singer included Josh Homme of QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, Tim McIlrath of RISE AGAINST, Taylor Momsen from THE PRETTY RECKLESS, Perry Farrell of JANE’S ADDICTION, THE MELVINS, BLACK SABBATH‘s Geezer Butler and Ryan Adams, along with members of Cornell‘s bands SOUNDGARDEN, AUDIOSLAVE and TEMPLE OF THE DOG.
THE MELVINS opened the evening with a three-song set that included a cover of SOUNDGARDEN‘s “Spoonman”, while the FOO FIGHTERS ran through SOUNDGARDEN‘s “No Attention”, plus two songs previously covered by SOUNDGARDEN, DEVO‘s “Girl U Want” and CHEECH AND CHONG‘s “Earache My Eye”, before closing the set with “Everlong”.
Homme played a solo rendition of SOUNGARDEN‘s “Rusty Cage” while MAROON 5‘s Adam Levine and PEARL JAM‘s Stone Gossard joined forces on “Seasons”, the song Cornellrecorded for the “Singles” soundtrack.
Cyrus sang “As Hope and Promise Fade”, before two of the surviving members of AUDIOSLAVE — guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk — played a five-song set with a rotating lineup of guest singers (Perry Farrell on “Cochise”, Juliette Lewis on “Be Yourself”, McIlrath on “Set It Off”, Carlile on “Like A Stone” and Dave Grohl on “Show Me How To Live”) and bassists (BLACK SABBATH‘s Geezer Butler, METALLICA‘s Robert Trujillo and JANE’S ADDICTION‘s Chris Chaney).
Introduced by comedian Jack Black, METALLICA opened its four-song set with a cover of SOUNDGARDEN‘s “All Your Lies”, followed by two of its own classic tracks, “For Whom The Bell Tolls” and “Master Of Puppets”, before closing with SOUNDGARDEN‘s “Head Injury”.
Cornell‘s widow, Vicky, took to the stage to pay tribute to her husband.
“We all know how music can change us, but Chris did something more extraordinary — he changed music and paved the way for so many from Seattle to across the globe,” she said. “And that legacy, and his influence, will live for generations to come. I am so proud that, along with his legacy, his philanthropic work continues to grow and flourish.
“Chris would be so very proud. Simply put, to me, and because of all of you, Chris lives on, a music immortal whose passion for helping others is more alive today than ever.”
Chris‘s 14-year-old daughter Toni received a standing ovation after performing a cover of Bob Marley‘s “Redemption Song” while standing in front of a picture of her father.
The show was presented by Cornell‘s family and closest friends, with Jimmy Kimmel hosting.
Each ticket purchased online for the show included a copy of Cornell‘s recently released self-titled career retrospective album.
Chris took his own life in May 2017 after a SOUNDGARDEN show in Detroit.
“I Am The Highway: A Tribute To Chris Cornell” setlist:
THE MELVINS
01. Kicking Machine
02. With Your Heart
03. Not Your Hands
04. Leech
05. Heart Of Honey
06. SpoonmanRita Wilson
01. The Promise
Nikka Costa and Alain Johannes
01. Disappearing One
Chris Stapleton
01. The Keeper
FOO FIGHTERS
01. No Attention
02. Earache My Eye
03. Girl You Want
04. Everlong (Acoustic)
Josh Homme
01. Rusty Cage
Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, and Stone Gossard
01. Seasons
Miley Cyrus
01. Two Drink Minimum
AUDIOSLAVE (Tom Morello and Brad Wilk)
01. Cochise (with Geezer Butler and Perry Farrell)
02. Be Yourself (with Geezer Butler and Juliette Lewis)
03. Set It Off (with Chris Chaney, Sam Harris and Tim Mcllrath)
04. Like A Stone (with Chris Chaney and Brandi Carlile)
05. Show Me How To Live (with Robert Trujillo and Dave Grohl)
Toni Cornell and Ziggy Marley
01. Redemption Song
METALLICA
01. All Your Lies
02. For Whom The Bell Tolls
03. Master of Puppets
04. Head Injury
Ryan Adams (Daphne Chen, Richard Dodd, Eric Gorfain, Leah Katz, and Don Was)
01. Dead Wishes
02. Fell On Black Days
TEMPLE OF THE DOG
01. Preaching The End Of The World (Nikka Costa, Alain Johannes, Stone Gossard, Brendan O’Brien, and Josh Taylor)
02. Can’t Change Me (Nikka Costa, Alain Johannes, Stone Gossard, Eric Avery, and Josh Freese)
03. Hunted Down (William DuVall, Jerry Cantrell, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, and Josh Freese)
04. All Night Thing (Fiona Apple, Brendan O’Brien, David Garza, Jeff Ament, and Matt Chamberlain)
05. Reach Down (Miguel, Nikka Costa, Stone Gossard, Brendan O’Brien, Jeff Ament, and Matt Cameron)
06. Say Hello 2 Heaven (Miley Cyrus, Brendan O’Brien, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, and Josh Freese)
07. Hunger Strike (Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Stone Gossard, Brendan O’Brien, Jeff Ament, and Matt Cameron)
SOUNDGARDEN
01. Rusty Cage (with Taylor Momsen)
02. Flower (with Marcus Durant)
03. Outshined (with Marcus Durant and Stone Gossard)
04. Drawing Flies (with Taylor Momsen, Buzz Osbourne, Matt Demeritt, and Tracy Wanamae)
05. Loud Love (with Taylor Momsen, Tom Morello, and Wayne Kramer)
06. I Awake (with Taylor Hawkins and Buzz Osbourne)
07. The Day I Tried To Live (with Taylor Hawkins and Buzz Osbourne)
08. Black Hole Sun (with Brandi Carlile, Peter Frampton, Tim Hanseroth, and Phil Hanseroth)