The legal saga between Soundgarden and Vicky Cornell rumbles on, as the grunge-rockers file papers demanding Cornell hand over the band’s social media login information.
On March 25, remaining Soundgarden members Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd, alongside business manager Rit Venerus, filed a lawsuit against the widow of late frontman Chris Cornell in Washington state U.S district court.
In the court papers, Soundgarden accuse Vicky of “holding hostage the login information” to all their social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vimeo, YouTube, Snapchat, Tumblr, Top Spin, Pinterest, and their official website.
Whilst the lawsuit plays out, the band have asked Cornell to post “Soundgarden has temporarily suspended its official social media accounts due to pending litigation" on all social channels.
According to the filing, Soundgarden ex-management company Patriot Mangement handed over all passwords to Vicky in 2019. The papers also included an email from Patriot stating “Vicky [Cornell] has since changed all the social media passwords for the band accounts and will not share them with [Patriot] as she wants the band, and I quote, ‘to sue her for them’".
Legal disputes between Soundgarden and Vicky have been ongoing since Chris' death in 2017. Their most recent spat in February 2021 saw Vicky suing Soundgarden over the buyout price for Chris’ share of the band. Allegedly, the group offered her a "viciously low" stake of $300,000, when she was expecting to be offered at least $4 million.
Despite the legal tussles, Vicky confirmed at the end of 2020 that everything Chris recorded before his death, including unreleased Soundgarden tracks, will be given an official release at some point in the future. “All of Chris' music, including Soundgarden, will see the light of day,” she stated.
