Soundgarden Lawsuit Claims Vicky Cornell Misused Benefit Concert Revenue

Soundgarden's legal face-off with Chris Cornell's widow Vicky Cornell continues with perhaps the most shocking claim yet from either side.

The band is now countersuing Vicky for allegedly using money raised from the 2019 'I Am the Highway' tribute concert for herself.

Documents filed in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida, Miami division, state that the surviving members of Soundgarden, Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron, agreed to perform the tribute concert at the Forum in L.A. for free with the understanding that the revenue generated would go to the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation which aims to help vulnerable children.

The band claims the "recipient(s) of the revenue ... have not been identified" and that "Vicky Cornell did not have the intention of using some or all of the revenue from the Cornell Concert for charitable purposes, but rather for personal purposes for herself and her family. ...[Her] representation was false, or exhibited recklessness and negligence as to its truth or falsity, for the purpose and intent of inducing Soundgarden into agreeing to perform at the Cornell Concert without compensation."

The band also claim's Vicky has taken control of the band's social media and is using it to "denigrate the band and surviving band members."

Vicky's lawyer, Marty Singer, responded to the suit, calling it "salacious, scurrilous and vicious." He added that the three received $78,000 for the concert and know that "every single penny of the proceeds generated by the concert were properly allocated and accounted for, and their statements are not only false and defamatory but demonstrate the depths to which Chris' former bandmates are willing to sink to tarnish his legacy."

The legal battle started last year as Soundgarden hoped to finish its final album with Chris, using multi-track recordings he had stored in his home studio.

The band claims the songs, like much of the music in the Soundgarden catalog, were equal collaborations between the four members. Vicky claims the songs were solely Chris's work and that the band refused to honor her wishes in bringing the album to fruition.

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