I really hate seeing this and it looks like things aren't getting any easier between Vicky Cornell and the surviving members of Soundgarden. The band has now counter-sued Vicky over ownership of the final Chris Cornell recordings. In their legal motion filed, the surviving members of Soundgarden also reveal they learned of Cornell's death on social media...
Back in December, Chris Cornell’s widow, Vicky Cornell, filed a lawsuit against the surviving members of Soundgarden over royalty payments and ownership rights to seven unreleased songs. Now, the band is counter-suing Cornell in a bid to regain control of the unreleased songs.
In a motion filed in a Florida court on Tuesday, Soundgarden members Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd argue that Vicky Cornell has no claim over the seven songs in question. Whereas Vicky maintains the tracks were solely authored by her late husband in 2017 at his personal recording studio, Soundgarden say that, in reality, the material stems from collaborative writing and recording sessions that date back nearly a decade.
Five of the seven songs were co-written by members of Soundgarden other than Cornell and have been in the works as far back as 2011, the band contends. They also claim that much of Cornell’s writing and recording took place in Seattle and on the road during tour, disputing Vicky’s claim that they were made at Chris’ personal studio in Florida. (Vicky has sought jurisdiction in Florida, whereas Soundgarden want the case moved to their native Washington.)
Soundgarden also cite numerous emails and text messages with Vicky Cornell in which she specifically refers to the recordings as the “SG files.” Their motion also includes press statements and interviews in which Chis Cornell specifically mentions working on new Soundgarden music.