The ‘Black Hole Sun’ band’s guitarist Kim Thayil has revealed he and the rest of the group – which was also comprised of Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd – came to the “conclusion” that it wouldn’t be possible to continue playing live “given” their “sentiments and love” for the singer – who tragically took his own life in May 2017.
Speaking during SiriusXM’s ‘Trunk Nation LA Invasion’, he said: “Reasonably, you’ve got a big part missing … I do not see, given the commitments that other band members have, given our sentiments and love for Chris, I do not see us reconfiguring a tour or anything, as other bands have done in the past, without him.
“This is really complicated, but I’ve known Chris since I was a kid, basically — we grew up together, our early 20s. “You want to honour the work and legacy you did.
“Is it best to regard it with dignity and let it rest?
“Do you want to honour it by celebrating the music and work that he’s done?
“This has been difficult for a lot of people in the family and the band, and I think our conclusion was that.”
However, Kim had some good news for fans, as they are hoping to release their final album featuring the ‘Loud Love’ singer.
He said: “We definitely have another record in us.
“Stuff that’s written, stuff that’s demoed and recorded — certainly.
“All it would need is to take the audio files that are available.
“And I think that will happen. It would be ridiculous if it didn’t. But these are difficult things — partnerships and property.”
Chris was also the frontman of Audioslave, who played a tribute concert in honour of the ‘Cochise’ rocker in January, which saw the likes of Jane Addiction’s Perry Farrell, Dave Grohl, Brandi Carlile and Juliette Lewis perform songs from their back catalogue.
Meanwhile, Brad Pitt is working on a documentary about his late friend.
The ‘World War Z’ actor and director Peter Berg – who co-own production company Film 45 – have teamed up with Chris’ widow, Vicky Cornell, to work on the feature-length film, which will explore the life and career of the singer.
Vicky will serve as producer on the project.
A spokesperson for the rocker’s estate confirmed the project is in the works but declined to offer any further details.