Chris Cornell Weighs in on ‘Temple of the Dog’ Lawsuit

On Monday, we told you about the fight between A&M Records and London Bridge Studios over Temple of the Dog’s master tapes. Both parties are claiming they have rights to the one and only full-length produced by the '90s Seattle rock band comprised of Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell and Matt Cameron along with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament.

Cornell is now weighing in on the ownership argument, saying that Rajan Parashar, brother of the late Rick Parashar who produced Temple of the Dog, does not have a right to the masters. "A&M Records paid for the recordings and the use of the studio," Soundgarden's frontman told the Associated Press. For Parashar "to pretend he has a right to keep the recordings makes no more sense than the owner of a laundromat claiming he owns the clothes you washed in his washing machine."

As we previously reported, A&M alleges that Rick sold them the rights to the tapes for $35,000 back in 1993, but never handed them over. While it’s not known why A&M Records is pursuing legal action now after all of these years, 2016 will mark the 25th anniversary of the album. Rick died in 2014 from a pulmonary embolism and his brother Rajan, who co-founded London Bridge Records with his brother, is currently in possession of the master tapes.

Temple of the Dog's self-titled disc was released by A&M Records in 1991 and re-released a year later. The album eventually went on to sell more than one million copies and spawned the hit single "Hunger Strike."

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