Remember When Chris Cornell Jammed With Jason Aldean?
Chris Cornell was a rock icon, but he also left footprints in country music. Do you remember when he took the stage with Jason Aldean?
Cornell teamed up with Aldean for a collaboration at the 2014 CMT Artists of the Year ceremony to perform Aldean's "Just Gettin' Started," which reached No. 1 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart when it was released as the second single from Aldean's 2014 album Old Boots, New Dirt.
The Soundgarden singer meshed well with Aldean on the track, singing the high harmonies over Aldean's growling lead vocal and playing rhythm electric guitar. It was an evening Aldean remembers fondly.
"I only got to work with Chris once, but he was a true rock star," Aldean tells Rolling Stone. "He was a bada– onstage and a class act offstage."
Cornell also worked with Zac Brown Band on a track titled “Heavy Is the Head" that appears on the group’s experimental 2015 album Jekyll + Hyde, and performed it with them on Saturday Night Live before appearing at ZBB’s Southern Ground Festival in 2016. Prior to that, the rocker performed at an Austin City Limits salute to Johnny Cash in 2012, on a bill that included Kenny Chesney, Ronnie Dunn, Kris Kristofferson, Jamey Johnson and more.
Cornell died on Wednesday night after a Soundgarden concert in Detroit. A representative for the singer-songwriter told the New York Times his death was “sudden and unexpected." He was found dead in his hotel room with a band around his neck, and Billboard reports that the medical examiner in the case ruled his death a suicide by hanging.
“Sad to hear about the passing of Chris Cornell this morning,” Aldean tweeted on Thursday (May 18). “He was a class act and a true rockstar.”
Country stars including Jake Owen, Jennifer Nettles and Dan + Shay singer Dan Smyers turned to social media to share their reactions to Chris Cornell's death and appreciation for his music.
Country Stars Mourn Chris Cornell