Chris Cornell

As Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell hits the road to make up a few missed dates on his solo ‘Songbook’ tour, it’s hard to avoid questions about the new Soundgarden and the excitement surrounding it.

Soundgarden unleashed 'Live to Rise' -- their first 100 percent new recording in 15 years -- yesterday (April 4) and if it wasn't what you expected, don't worry. Singer Chris Cornell says that the song is not necessarily for the band's hardcore contingent, but their forthcoming album on the other hand will be for the fans who live and breathe Soundgarden.

Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell recently weighed in on the "rock is dead" argument, opened up about his own experiences with drug abuse and marvels at how 70's rockers could "be completely f---ed up all the time and still function."

Soundgarden went on hiatus in 1997 but it was believed that the band had just broken up. Singer Chris Cornell, who fronted Audioslave in between the hiatus and the band's return to activity, recently opened up about the semantics of "indefinite hiatus" versus "breaking up." With the benefit of hindsight, Cornell admitted that the band members should have used different terminology in order to make navigating the murky "Soundgarden are currently inactive" waters more manageable for everyone involved.