Chris Cornell has found several outlets for his music over the years, and while 2016 saw him play dates as a solo artist and for the first time fronting Temple of the Dog on a tour, 2017 has the singer focused on completing Soundgarden's next album. During a recent chat with Den of Geek, Cornell expressed his desire for a Temple of the Dog future and shared his thoughts on Soundgarden's exclusion so far from the Rock and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

For those who enjoyed Temple of the Dog's first-ever tour last year, Cornell offered some hope that there may be more from that lineup to come. “It was really an amazing experience so I think we're all motivated to do something again,” he said. “The only obstacle really is the same one that's always been there, which is that everybody's always busy. So it literally has to be planned ahead by two years and that's a hard thing to do. But it's something that we definitely want to do. Whether it's possibly doing some new songs or just getting out and playing more shows, maybe in other parts of the world we haven't gone into, I don't know. But everybody kind of wants to do something.”

Temple of the Dog features Cornell and Matt Cameron from Soundgarden, along with Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard and Mike McCready and initially came together as a tribute to the late Andrew Wood, who had been Cornell's roommate at one point and fronted Mother Love Bone, a group that featured a pre-Pearl Jam Ament and Gossard. Cameron has since gone on to pull double duty with Soundgarden and Pearl Jam making the ties between the two bands even closer.

The Temple talk led to the discussion of Pearl Jam's recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and the fact that Soundgarden's name has yet to be called. Cornell helped induct Heart a few years ago, but the singer says the fact that they've been left out so far while some of their Seattle scene peers are in is not something that concerns him.

“To be honest, it doesn't really make any difference to me,” he stated. “I'm not trying to be negative about it. The one thing about inducting Heart was that I was actually really moved by their fans, and the fans were the people in the cheap seats that were screaming, and they were outside saying hi every time you'd come and go over the course of the two days. That was when it made sense to me, that it matters to the fans, and if it matters to the fans, then I think it matters. But they deserve ownership of it.”

As stated, Soundgarden will have a chance to add to their resume as the band has been balancing a mix of tour dates with recording for their next album this year. Look for the band on tour during the month of May at these stops and stay tuned for news on the next album.

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