Eric Church Honors Late Rocker Chris Cornell with ‘Rusty Cage’
Church honored the late rock icon with a cover of Johnny Cash's "Rusty Cage," a song Cornell covered years prior.
Music fans worldwide have been mourning the loss of Soundgarden and Audioslave lead singer Chris Cornell after the rock icon was found dead in his hotel room last week. Many fans, in both the industry and otherwise, took to social media to express their sincerest condolences for the family after the loss of the powerhouse vocalist.
Country superstar Eric Church honored the late artist in a different way, taking a moment out of his Holdin’ My Own Tour stop in Washington, D.C. (5/19) to perform the Johnny Cash version of “Rusty Cage,” from his 1996 album American II: Unchained. The song was later featured on Soundgarden’s third LP, Badmotorfinger, a song Cornell referred to as a “hillbilly black Sabbath.” According to Rolling Stone, Cornell had been a Cash fan since his childhood, having once admitted to listening to At San Quentin repeatedly for an entire year before he’d become a teenager.
The tribute from the country star isn’t the first to come from the country genre. Both Jason Aldean and Zac Brown honored their late colleague with separate statements about his passing.
“Chris Cornell touched so many & we were fortunate to have worked w/ him. He was a true talent & gentleman. Our thoughts are with his family,” wrote Brown on Twitter, with Aldean adding, “Sad to hear about the passing of Chris Cornell this morning. He was a class act and a true rockstar.”
Both artists collaboration with Cornell at one point with Aldean joining the rocker at the 2014 CMT Artists of the Year celebration for a performance of “Just Gettin’ Started.” Brown featured Cornell on his last album, Jekyll + Hyde, on the song “Heavy Is The Head.”
Chris Cornell leaves behind his wife Vicky, daughters Lillian Jean and Toni, and son Christopher. He’s best known for the songs “Black Hole Sun,” “Superunknown,” “Fell on Black Days,” “Spoonman” and “My Wave.” He passed away on Wednesday (5/17) at age 52 from an apparent suicide by hanging.
Eric Church will wrap his Holdin’ My Own Tour this weekend with back-to-back shows in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
