Soundgarden are preparing for a rare on-stage appearance scheduled for September 9.
The Seattle-based rock icons have been tapped to perform at halftime during the Seahawks’ season opener against the New England Patriots at Lumen Field.
The Black Hole Sun outfit will be accompanied by Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready on guitar, while The Pretty Reckless frontwoman Taylor Momsen is slated to take on vocal duties. Since Chris Cornell’s passing in 2017, she has essentially become the band’s unofficial frontperson.
She led them during last year’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 2019 she joined the group for the I Am the Highway tribute, delivering performances of Rusty Cage, Drawing Flies and Loud Love.
The Taylor-fronted Soundgarden also took part in the Taylor Hawkins tribute show in 2022.
Momsen has stated she would always welcome the honor of performing with Soundgarden.
She said: “The reality is I’m here for anything they want or need. If they call me, I’m there. It’s that simple.”
The Pretty Reckless served as the support act on Soundgarden’s 2017 North American tour. Tragically, Chris Cornell died by suicide after their Detroit tour stop.
Two years ago, the band performed under the alias Nudedragons for a Seattle benefit concert, with Shaina Shepherd joining on vocals.
As they return to the stage, Soundgarden are pushing toward releasing a long-awaited album that will feature eight previously unreleased Chris Cornell vocal tracks.
The band recorded material with Chris before his death, and drummer Matt Cameron recently confirmed they’re nearing the finish line after years of legal delays and painstaking production work.
He said: “We’re just gonna try to get this thing mixed, get it over the finish line, and then hopefully we’ll have a better idea what’s gonna come next. We’re just taking it one step at a time ’cause it’s been kind of a long process just to get to here.”
Cameron added that Chris’ vocals are complete, with guitarist Kim Thayil’s additional instrumental pieces still needing to be finished in July.
Bassist Ben Shepherd previously revealed the band were working on the “yet to be named” album, describing the emotional impact of hearing his late bandmate’s voice again:
He wrote on Instagram: “It’s at this point of recording all of our previous albums I’d get this overwhelming hit of awe, camaraderie, power of creativity, majesty even, and love… To hear, as a fan and band member, a song or two Chris brought in a few years ago turn before my very ears and finger blisters into a full blown Soundgarden tune is like feeling a glacier fall away off your chest.”
