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Watch Chris Cornell’s haunting cover of Prince’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’

by Lillian Speakman

May 18, 2017

This morning, we woke to the sad news of the passing of Chris Cornell Wednesday night. As we remember Cornell's life and music, we also continue to mourn the death of another music great: Prince. In 2015, Cornell recorded a haunting cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U" during a visit to the studios of SiriusXM.

Cornell was best known for being the frontman and co-founder of the popular '90s band Soundgarden: one of the most influential grunge bands. In his reflective feature on the emergence of grunge and the impact of Soundgarden, Erik Thompson described Cornell's "volatile, piercing wail" as a "musical call to arms for capricious youth who had long since grown tired of the flagrant artificiality of hair metal."

While Cornell was a pivotal figure for gritty rock, he also more than proved that he was a versatile vocalist. In his gorgeous rendition of "Nothing Compares 2 U," Cornell sweetly croons the heartbreaking lyrics in an acoustic performance.

With the passing of Cornell happening just short of a month after the one year anniversary of the passing of Prince, this cover provides a beautiful and bittersweet way to remember two music greats.

Lillian Speakman is a senior at Hamline University and a DJ for HU Radio.

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