Frogtoon Music

Billie Jean by Chris Cornell

Artist Biography For Chris Cornell

Chris Cornell Born Christopher John Boyle July 20 1964 - May 17 2017 Seattle WA United States Was An American Singer/songwriter And Guitarist. In 1984 He Formed The Band Soundgarden With Bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Throughout The Late 1980s And 90s Soundgarden Experienced Major Success As One Of The Major Grunge Bands Along With Groups Such As Alice In Chains Nirvana And Pearl Jam . In 1990 Chris Cornell Worked Together With The Then Soundgarden Drummer Matt Cameron And Stone Gossard Jeff Ament And Mike McCready Who Would Later Form Pearl Jam In A Project Named Temple Of The Dog. They Wrote A 10 Song Album As A Tribute To Andrew Wood The Singer Of Mother Love Bone Who Had Died The Year Before Of A Heroin Overdose. In 1997 Soundgarden Split At The Zenith Of Their Popularity Due To Tensions In The Group And Chris Began A Solo Career. He Released The Sucessful Album Euphoria Morning. Out Of This Album Came The Single Can't Change Me. When Zack De La Rocha Left Rage Against The Machine In 2001 Chris Cornell Joined The Instrumentalists Of Rage Against The Machine To Form The Band Audioslave. In 2006 Chris Recorded A Theme Song For The James Bond 007 Movie "Casino Royale" Titled You Know My Name Which Is Used As The Opening Song. In The Fall Of 2006 Cornell Started Recording His Second Solo Album Carry On With Producer Steve Lillywhite. Among Some Fellow Artists Who Are Expected To Accompany Him On His Second Solo Release Is Friend And Legendary Musician Gary Lucas Who Has Contributed Acoustic Guitar To Some Of The Tracks. Cornell Has Stated That He Is Always Writing And That There Are Some Songs That He Was Not Able To Put Into An Audioslave Album. Carry On Was Released In The Summer Of 2007. On February 15 2007 Chris Cornell Issued A Statement That He Was Leaving Audioslave Shortly After Tom Morello Tim Commerford And Brad Wilk Reunited With Their Former Vocalist Zack De La Rocha To Reform Rage Against The Machine. Chris Cornell Released His Third Solo Album Scream With American Rapper And Record Producer Timbaland On February 3rd 2009. This Album Was A Critical Failure And Sold Poorly. It Is Rumored That He Is Going To Try And "De-Timbalandize" The Tracks. On January 1st 2010 Chris Cornell Announced The Reunion Of Soundgarden After A 12 Year Hiatus. Chris Cornell Was Extremely Revered Among The Music Listeners For His Powerful Multi-Octave Singing And Gritty Soulful Vocal Style. He Was A Baritone With An Ability To Sing Extremely High In The Tenor Range As Well As In The Lower Register Of A Baritone Voice. He Showcased This In Various Songs Most Notably The Studio And The Demo Versions Of "Beyond The Wheel" Where He Can Be Heard Spanning Three Octaves. He Has Also Experimented With Various Different Vocal Styles Ranging From Light Falsetto To Brutal Screams And Chants. On May 17 2017 Cornell Died In Detroit After Performing At A Show With Soundgarden. He Committed Suicide By Hanging Himself In His Hotel Room. Footage Of His Final Concert Was Posted To YouTube.

Frogtoon Music - Song Info: Billie Jean

"Billie Jean" Was Recorded By American Rock Musician Chris Cornell For His Carry On Album In 2007. Cornell Said Of His Cover "I Didn't Plan On It. It Just Sort Of Happened Organically. I Changed The Music Quite A Bit I Didn't Touch The Lyrics. And It's Not A Joke. I Took A Completely Different Approach To It Musically." Cornell Had Previously Performed The Song Live In Europe Including An Acoustic Set In Stockholm Sweden In September 2006. He Later Added "I Was Getting Ready To Do Some Acoustic Shows On A Promotional Tour For Revelations And I Just Wanted To Have Fun With It." The Cover Received Favourable Reviews From Critics MTV Noting The "bluesier More Pained And Impassioned Feel" Which Stripped Away "any Pop Elements Of The Original". Los Angeles Times Described The Track As "a Grim Spooky Take" On Jackson's "Billie Jean" Adding That It's "amusing Enough Even If It Sounds A Lot More Like Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters". The Newspaper Concluded That "Jacko's Mega Hit Survives The Stunt Translation". Cornell's Version Was Performed Live By David Cook On The Seventh Season Of American Idol. After Covering Cornell's Cover The Idol Judges Praised Him For His "originality". Whilst Some News Organisations Criticized Cook For Covering A Cover Version Others Praised Him For Singing The Song Well. Cornell Was Surprised And Flattered By The Cover But Was Also Concerned That Idol Viewers May Have Thought Cook Created The Interpretation. Cornell Said Of Cook's Cover "This Is Something Where They Know I Came Up With This Arrangement And Reinvented The Song. I Stuck My Neck Out Being A Guy That Comes From The Indie Rock World Doing A Michael Jackson Song." He Added "Don't Get Me Wrong. He Sang It Great. But It Was Literally A Note-For-Note Take On What I Came Up With."

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