In my time of dying, I want nobody to mourn

All I want for you to do is take my body home

Those opening lines to the last song Chris Cornell ever sang on stage. It’s a cover of Led Zeppelin‘s In My Time of Dying”

Soundgarden closed out their show at Detroit’s Fox Theater last night and hours later, Cornell was found dead. Detroit police said it as a suicide. Police spokesman Michael Woody said,

“We are moving in the direction of a possible suicide but we are waiting on the medical examiners office to provide their report.”

Cornell battled substance abuse and other demons that also plagued so many of his contemporaries. Cornell told Rolling Stone in 2015,

“I’ve lost a lot of young, brilliant friends, people that I thought were very inspired. They’re all young and these guys all had limitless potential in their lives in front of them.”

In recent years he moved to Florida with his family and opened up about his long term sobriety. Cornell told the Mirror in 2012 about his battle with alcoholism.

“It was a long slow slide and then a long slow recovery, but there was self-discovery too.

I was very lucky I was able to see that and not take it for granted. It helped me climb out of the mire. I saw how hard it could be.”

The last song Cornell ever released was called “The Promise.” It ends like this;

And one promise you made
One promise that always remains
No matter the price
A promise to survive
Persevere and thrive
And dare to rise once more
A promise to survive
Persevere and thrive
And fill the world with life
As we’ve always done

Chris Cornell was 52.

(via CNN)