There’s a case to be made that, for dramatic, heavy-duty rock music, Chris Cornell is the greatest of all rock singers. Skilled, ambitious, and blessed with a rare light touch, the Seattle native couldn’t help but stand out.

You can’t possibly narrow it down to just ten, can you? Well, once you read this, you’ll be desperate to hear all of those left off the list. But let me do the heavy work first. These are Chris Cornell’s greatest moments behind a microphone. 

Chris Cornell’s 10 Greatest Vocal Performances

10. ”Loud Love” 

Don’t worry! There’s time, and there’s hope! Not even Chris Cornell, one of the greatest rock frontmen, started out as good as you remember, as Jack Endino revealed in an interview with me a few years ago. 

Cornell consistently improved his skills and confidence. But the time that Soundgarden had finally opted to sign with a major and release their aggressive Black Sabbath/Led Zeppelin hybrid that is “Loud Love”, his incredible tone was nearly fully formed. 

9. ”Like a Stone” 

There’s a risk that “Like a Stone,” if it keeps being covered at the rate that it is right now, will turn into just a karaoke pop standard whose potent lyrics are forgotten. 

This was a hit for Audioslave, the supergroup formed when Cornell joined Rage Against the Machine‘s members. However, this is a song about the singer’s tribulations immediately prior to forming the new project. His tone and the use of dynamics are top-notch here.

8. ”You Know My Name” 

James Bond soundtracks had a type, just like the actor who gets to play the main hero. Mainly, they look for female singers with resonant, soulful voices. 

However, an exception could be made for someone like Chris Cornell. “You Know My Name” is a remarkable, mysterious soul-inspired pop-rock tune. The verses and pacing showcase just what an experienced songwriter Cornell had become, while the grit added to the tenor vocals in the chorus is fantastic. 

It’s not a surprise that during this period, the singer was confident enough to experiment with non-rock styles, delivering some, in my opinion, truly underrated gems.

7. ”Nothing Compares 2 U”

Chris Cornell had an incredible vocal range for much of his career that extended from C2 to A5. Through training, he’d acquired excellent technique, including fantastic grit, a nice tremolo and the ability to sustain tenor range notes with ease. 

However, even more telling of his talent is what he did when some of that range was lost. On the Sinead O’Connor and Prince cover of “Nothing Compares 2 U”, it’s Cornell’s pristine taste that shines through. I’ve added this because The Art of the Cover Version was something that Chris Cornell had mastered like few others.

6. ”The Day I Tried to Live”

A lot of rock bands during the 1990s faked depth. Cornell, on the other hand, needed to move from it occasionally. Much of 1994’s “Superunknown” album, for example, is dominated by sheer darkness. This fact is hardly ever disguised here.

If you need an audio illustration, just listen to Cornell’s morbid lyrics and that insane vocal howl on the chorus for “The Day I Tried to Live.” For all intents and purposes, and though I’ve tried, it’s a song that is practically impossible to cover accurately. 

5. ”Black Hole Sun”

It’s a twisted Beatles song, really. And, lest we forget, “Black Hole Sun” is the song that saved Soundgarden from being merely a respected band to a multi-platinum-selling one. 

But try to howl those chorus vocals and prepare to quickly be put back in your place! Few singers blended great technique with creativity quite this way.

4. ”Pillow of Your Bones”

Chris Cornell’s first solo album, “Europhia Morning,” is a thing of beauty. It’s also an underrated gem, a quieter, Jeff Buckley-inspired album that confused some of the singer’s long-time, hard-rocking fans. 

“Pillow of Your Bones” opens with, possibly, the greatest (acoustic) guitar riff the singer/guitarist ever wrote. The rest of it is a sheer masterclass in rock vocals, shifting from clean to falsetto to powerfully distorted high notes. A fantastic song!

3. ”Show Me How to Live”

It was a recipe that couldn’t fail. The rhythm section and guitarists from Rage Against The Machine could create a sound that could blast out of rock radio. And Cornell possessed the tone, range, and lyrical mastery that few other prestigious singers had developed quite to this degree.

“Show Me How to Live” is a song of rebellion where the vocals climb higher with each line. The chorus parts include some of Cornell’s very best howled vocals. They’re so good, in fact, I think, that even the man himself had to fight through them when performing this live. 

2. ”Rusty Cage”

Soundgarden was a bizarre art project just as much as it was a ’90s blending of Tony Iommi-like riffing and Robert Plant-style singing. 

“Rusty Cage” shows that Cornell didn’t just have the piercing high notes down to an art, but also a strange vision of the world. No wonder it could be converted into a country song for Johnny Cash.

It’s one of the songs that defines the “grunge era.” And much of this is due to Chris Cornell’s rock vocals, which feature a fantastic outro. 

1. ”Slaves & Bulldozers”

”Slaves & Bulldozers” is the final song ever performed by Chris Cornell and, overall, the pinnacle of his vocal prowess. 

It’s not merely the way that Soundgarden manages to rework the blues into something powerful, loud, and sinister. It’s not even the fact that Cornell comfortably reaches toward some notes that would send most singers into urgent surgery.

It’s the abandon with which he delivers those throaty screams, the way that the grit of the vocals hangs in the balance between being perfectly executed and unsafe, that gives ”Slaves & Bulldozers” its unique sound. 

It’s an awe-inspiring moment by one of rock’s finest singers. I think that the studio version of “Saves & Bulldozers” is Chris Cornell’s greatest vocal performance.