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Kim Thayil says that even before Chris Cornell‘s death in 2017, the members of Soundgarden would have conversations about the band being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“Sometimes ideas have been tossed out — sometimes as a lark, just general chatter among buddies, and sometimes as a more serious, sincere thing,” the guitarist tells Billboard. “We would joke around like, ‘Hey, if we ever got in the Rock Hall, what special thing would we do? Who would we want to induct us?’ We’d throw out all sorts of things; some of it was bulls–t clowning around, some of it was serious.

“So we’ve given a little bit of thought to it.”

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Thayil and company are definitely thinking more seriously about it now that, after two previous nominations, Soundgarden has been named as part of the Rock Hall’s class of 2025, which will be inducted on Nov. 8 in Los Angeles. First and foremost, he’s happy the Seattle band’s time has finally come.

“I felt fairly confident that there was absolutely no reason why we wouldn’t qualify for induction — from how I appraised the work we did and from what I received over the years from our peers and the music industry,” Thayil says. “I’m much more appreciative now, especially when I saw the response people have given me when they learn about the nominations.”

Nevertheless, he acknowledges, his own enthusiasm for the Rock Hall honor took some time to evolve.“I kinda came from a subculture of rock that didn’t quite get what all the fuss is about,” Thayil tells Billboard. “Back in the ’80s, ’90s, when the Hall started, I probably was not alone in being part of a punk rock or indie metal scene that had an aversion to the idea. It was kind of hard to wrap my head around both a qualitative appraisal and a quantitative assessment.”

His view changed first after Cornell inducted Seattle rock precursors Heart into the Rock Hall in 2013, and then later after friends from Nirvana and Pearl Jam (including Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron) were inducted during 2014 and 2017, respectively.

“Chris lived the experience and said the enthusiasm of the fans was eye-opening for him, and understanding how important that was — and Matt seconded it,” Thayil explains. “In so many ways the fans got some kind of validation by having a band that was important to their heart and that they championed get (the honor). I know I felt that way about bands I believed in, whether the MC5 or the Ramones or Kiss.

“Chris explained that to me, and that kind of changed things. Plus I heard this from the Nirvana guys, the Pearl Jam guys, other friends and other bands. So it really changed my perspective.”

And Thayil is confident that Cornell — who died by suicide in May of 2017 following a concert in Detroit — would “definitely be stoked” about Soundgarden being inducted.

“He’s the one who convinced me how appreciative the fans and our peers and the Soundgarden community — that includes the people that we work with and work for us — would be about it,” Thayil says. “He realized how important that was, and he understood that would be important to us because it’s important to people who cared about us and helped us and supported us all along.

“That’s how I believe Chris would respond to this. I think he’d be very appreciative and thankful to all the people who have believed in him and believed in the work he did and the work that we all did, collectively.”

Thayil says Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd are both “very happy” about the induction news, and the guitarist is also pleased that original bassist Hiro Yamamoto — who was with Soundgarden from 1984 to 1989 and played on its first two EPs and first two albums — is being included in the induction.

“It’s the classic lineup and the foundational lineup,” Thayil says. “[Yamamoto] was really enthused, too. You have to reflect upon our formation and all the hard work, just the weird things we went through — walking miles and stapling posters to telephone poles for a gig 40, 50 people will be at, the van tours — not just of the U.S. but in Europe — sleeping on floors in Motel 6. It’s a long way, and I enjoy sharing and seeing enthusiasm from my bandmates and our people in the Soundgarden community — management, crew, everybody. It’s great.”

During its 34-year run, Soundgarden released six studio albums, including the six-times platinum Superunknown in 1994, and won two Grammy Awards. The group was the first of the so-called Northwest grunge bands to sign with a major label (A&M Records in 1989) and spearheaded a movement out of Seattle. The late Cornell also released five studio albums and joined members of Rage Against the Machine in the band Audioslave during Soundgarden’s 1997-2010 hiatus. Its final release to date was King Animal in 2012.

Thayil, Cameron and Shepherd have played together only a handful of times since Cornell’s death, including at a charity tribute concert for him during January 2019 and as part of the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert in September of 2022, both at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

Soundgarden’s previous Rock Hall nominations came in 2020 and 2023, and Thayil says Cornell’s absence has always been top of mind when the honor has been broached.

“It’s a high bar, not just technically, but emotionally,” he acknowledges. “There has to be a reverence for the missing brother and founder, and there also has to be reverence for the legacy — both for Chris’ work and Chris’ creativity, as well as the regard and reverence we have for ourselves collectively and for each other. Some suggestions have come out; I’m not prepared to share that, but I’ll just say it’s a higher bar than the usual composite of guitarists and drummers or singers.”

Also lurking, of course, is the specter of seven unreleased Soundgarden recordings that were the subject of legalities between the band and Cornell’s widow, Vicki Cornell. The matters were settled during the spring of 2023, but there’s no word about plans to release that material. “Certainly the catalog will continue to be addressed,” Thayil promises. “It’s been kinda shelved for a few years, but it will be addressed.”

In the meantime, Cameron is currently on tour with Pearl Jam, and work with Thayil in the band 3rd Secret — which also Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and others — has so far released two albums. Thayil also guests on albums for a variety of other artists, which he’ll continue as Soundgarden prepares for November’s festivities.

“We always wanted to be the kind of band for our fans that we looked up to and inspired us — that’s always been a context in which Soundgarden understood its own work,” Thayil says. “We wanted to be that kind of band would make decisions with regard to that community that had supported us or that we had worked to build, and I think we did a great job of that.”