UPDATE III (6:50 p.m.): The Wayne County (Michigan) Medical Examiner said Chris Cornell died from “suicide by hanging” even though a full autopsy report hasn’t been completed according to The Detroit News.
ORIGINAL POST (4:30 a.m.): Chris Cornell, the rock musician who co-wrote and performed Casino Royale’s title song, died Wednesday night at age 52, The Associated Press reported.
The news service quoted a Cornell representative, Brian Bumbery, as saying the musician’s death was “sudden and unexpected.” No cause of death was known early Thursday. Cornell, who had been on tour, died in Detroit, the AP said.
Cornell was the lead singer for Soundgarden and “helped architect the 90’s grunge rock movement,” AP said in its report. He was also lead performer and songwriter for Audioslave.
In 2006, Cornell became the first title song performer for the Daniel Craig era of James Bond films.
Cornell also co-wrote Casino’s title song, “You Know My Name,” with David Arnold, who also scored the movie.
With Casino, Eon Productions opted for a “reboot,” or starting the series over. The Daniel Kleinman-designed main titles were different that previous entries. Graphic elements for the titles included playing card images as well as silhouettes of violent fights as well as images of Craig, who was making his 007 debut.
UPDATE (4:45 a.m.): David Arnold commented on Twitter:
My friend Chris Cornell has died and I’m just incredibly sad .
— DavidGArnold (@DavidGArnold) May 18, 2017
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UPDATE II (9:30 a.m.): Many tributes have been written about Chris Cornell in the hours after his death became public. Here are tweets by the official James Bond Twitter account and actor Jeffrey Wright, who played Felix Leiter in Casino Royale.
Chris Cornell was a gentleman and a true artist. Barbara, Michael and the entire Bond family mourn this tragic loss. pic.twitter.com/lLhz87LPyG
— James Bond (@007) May 18, 2017
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Chris Cornell. Man, what? Wow., wow. Too soon. Great singer. Super nice dude.
— Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright) May 18, 2017
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Filed under: James Bond Films, James Bond Music | Tagged: Casino Royale, Chris Cornell, Daniel Kleinman, David Arnold, The Associated Press, You Know My Name | 3 Comments »