Vicky Cornell filed another lawsuit against the surviving members of Soundgarden, this time asking a judge to settle a dispute over how much their participation in the band is worth, inherited from the late Chris Cornell.
According to court documents obtained by Rolling Stone, the latest salvo in the ongoing dispute between Chris Cornell’s widow and the rest of the band came after Soundgarden received an offer from an unidentified third party looking to buy the band’s recorded music catalog. The offer was reportedly worth $ 16 million, but Vicky says the band offered to buy Chris’s stake “for the villainously low price of less than $ 300,000”.
To put that number in perspective, the lawsuit alleges that the initial offer falls far short of the royalties Vicky received in 2018 just for Soundgarden’s master recordings (for example, not including additional royalties from the publication). In addition, the suit claims that Soundgarden presented the number through an “assessment that is inconsistent with industry custom and standard and fraught with methodological flaws, discounts valuable partnership assets and disregards that when an iconic artist of the stature of Chris dies, the value of the band increases. ”
Marty Singer, Vicky Cornell’s lawyer, said in a statement to Rolling Stone, “The band’s claim that this dispute is somehow not about money for them is absurd and hypocritical. Of course it is about money and your greed. They received an offer from a third party to buy only a portion of their holdings for $ 16 million, and yet they offered to buy Chris’s stake for a mere $ 278,000. And then Vicky offered $ 21 million for his actions, which they declined – not because they wanted to preserve their life’s work, but because they know they will profit even more from the future exploration of the music Chris wrote and the legacy he created (which he has filled your pockets for years). “
In a statement provided to Rolling Stone, a Soundgarden representative said: “As requested by the Chris Cornell Estate and as required by Washington State laws, surviving members of Soundgarden submitted to Cornell Estate four months ago an offer to buy the Estate’s stake in Soundgarden calculated by the respected music industry appraisal expert Gary Cohen. Since then, the band members have continued to try to resolve all disputes with the Cornell Estate and in their various attempts to resolve, the band members have chosen to offer several times more than the amount calculated by Cohen. This dispute was never about money for the band. This is your life’s work and legacy. “
On Instagram, Cornell addressed the new order in a post with a photo of Chris with his two children. “My truth is stronger than your lies,” she wrote. “My will is stronger than your motives. My love is stronger than your hate. “
The lawsuit goes on to claim that Soundgarden has repeatedly denied Vicky Cornell access to the inventory and financial documents that would allow it to properly assess the value of the partnership with Soundgarden. Without that information available, the suit says it opposed Soundgarden’s $ 278,000 offer with a $ 12 million bid to buy the collective holdings of Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd for $ 12 million (or $ 4 million each) ). After the surviving members of Soundgarden allegedly rejected the offer, Vicky says she increased the total to $ 21 million (or $ 7 million each), adding that that number could increase if she received the underlying financial information. Soundgarden reportedly rejected the second offer as well.
Due to disagreements over the valuation, Cornell asked a judge to determine an appropriate acquisition price based not only on the value of Soundgarden’s major recordings, but also on other assets. The suit states that a “bona fide assessment” would also be responsible for future sales of goods and “nostalgia-driven projects”, such as potential tours with a replacement singer, hologram concerts and “false interpretations of Chris’ vocals taken from existing artificial intelligence recordings that could produce new Soundgarden hits. “