Chris Cornell, the lead singer of American hard rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, has died aged 52. The medical examiner confirmed the death on Thursday (May 18) in Detroit.

Cornell was one of the voices that helped take the grunge sound of the 1990s into the mainstream, alongside Seattle peers such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam. In Soundgarden and later Audioslave, he combined heaviness with an unusually wide vocal range.

The Guardian reported the death and the medical examiner's confirmation on the same date.