Vicky Cornell Gives Her First Televised Interview Since Husband Chris Cornell’s Suicide

Vicky Cornell, widow of Soundgarden lead singer Chris Cornell, opened up about her husband’s suicide and the battle he had with addiction in her first television interview since his death.

On Good Morning America, Vicky told Robin Roberts that,“He loved his life. He would never have ever left this world. Our family was everything. As soon as he got off stage, he was a dad, he was a regular dad.” Before his death, the singer was prescribed Ativan. He had previously been sober since 2003. In a statement released at the time of Chris’s death, his wife said: “When we spoke after the show, I noticed he was slurring his words; he was different. When he told me he may have taken and extra Ativan or two, I contacted security and asked that they check on him.”

Chris’s death wasn’t said to be caused by the drugs in his system, but Vicky believes her husband’s mind wasn’t clear “because of the level of impairment.” “The brain of someone who has a substance use disorder is different from that of … someone who doesn’t. He relapsed, he took 20 something pills… and in a nine-day period, 33.” Before the suicide Cornell had reached out to a friend saying, “Would love to talk, had relapse.”

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During the interview, Vicky spoke about the stigma that surrounds addiction. “You think addiction is a choice, and it’s not. I think that if there was less stigma around it, more people would speak up.”

The idea that her husband wasn’t a “rock star junkie” was something that Vicky insisted upon. “My husband was the furthest thing from a rock star junkie. He just wasn’t. He was the best husband, the greatest father. I lost my soulmate and the love of my life.”

She tweeted saying, “Not a day goes by that I don’t find myself trying to figure out some way to change what happened. Nine months makes no difference, I love + miss my husband more each passing day. It’s an unbearable pain that time simply does not heal. I hope sharing mine will help spare others.”