Toni Cornell opens up about the death of her father, Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, in an interview with Teen Vogue.
“Honestly, I love talking about him,” Toni, 21, says of her late dad. “Maybe a couple of years ago it would’ve been harder for me to do that.”
“The idea of grief, at the end of the day, it’s just love,” she continues. “At first, it’s pain and it’s awful, and you think it’s unbearable, but you learn how to live with it, and it turns into you honoring and remembering someone you love.”
Toni memorably performed a rendition of Leonard Cohen‘s “Hallelujah” on Good Morning America in 2017 following the death of her father and Linkin Park‘s Chester Bennington, who passed away within just months of each other that year. She continues to honor Chris through her own music career, and recalls telling him as a kid that she wanted to be just like him when she grew up.
“He would tell me, ‘No, Toni, you’re going to be just like you,'” Toni says.
The video for Toni’s latest single, “Campari,” is out now.
Meanwhile, Chris and the rest of Soundgarden will be honored with their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The ceremony takes place Nov. 8.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
