Watch previously unseen videos of Chris Cornell covering Tracy Chapman's Fast Car and the Rolling Stones' Wild Horses

Chris Cornell onstage
(Image credit: Kevin Nixon)

Chris Cornell would have turned 60 on Saturday, and to mark the occasion his widow, Vicky Cornell, released a video featuring a previously unheard recording of the late Soundgarden frontman singing Tracy Chapman's classic Fast Car.   

"Chris would have turned 60 today," she wrote. "Although everyone that loved him is sad that he’s no longer here, it’s all of you, the fans who made him, whose love has continued to keep his legacy alive. I’m so grateful to you all for that. 

"While I remember him best as the wonderful husband, father and human being he was - I’d like to celebrate his whole life and everything he gave us. On his 60th we can all celebrate his genius as an artist who redefined music, but also the incredible man who touched and changed lives. 

"He’s an icon, and he gave us all so much - his unique voice, his poetry, his creativity… his life was a gift to so many. And as you can hear - there’s more to come!"

Elsewhere, Heart's Nancy Wilson published an Instagram post featuring another cover, this time from a live show in September 1992, when Cornell fronted a version of the Rolling Stones' Wild Horses with the Wilson sisters' acoustic side-project the Lovemongers. The same musicians would feature on a cover of Led Zeppelin’s The Battle of Evermore that appeared on the soundtrack to the classic grunge-era movie Singles the following year. 

In 2021, the Cornell estate released No One Sings Like You Anymore: Volume One, a collection of covers recorded in 2016. The album featured versions of songs by Guns N' Roses, Electric Light Orchestra, Prince, Janis Joplin, John Lennon and others.

Fraser Lewry

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.