Chris Cornell Tells Howard Stern How He Wrote ‘Black Hole Sun’ Before Performing the Song Live in Studio

In 2007, the now tragically late singer Chris Cornell appeared on The Howard Stern Show and performed a haunting acoustic version of his iconic Soundgarden song “Black Hole Sun”. Before doing so, Cornell shared with host Stern how he wrote the song. Cornell stated that it was mostly written in his head while driving home.

I was in a car driving home, like at 4 AM…I tried to keep it revolving so I wouldn’t forget. I went inside and whistled it into a tape recorder, which I never listened back to but just in case I forgot it. And the next day I wrote out the lyrics – but I did have the lyrical idea at the time.

Watch @chriscornell's 2007 solo performance of his @soundgarden hit #BlackHoleSun in the studio with @HowardStern #SaturdaySoundtrack

See more music performances from the #SternShow in the #Howard section of the @SIRIUSXM app: https://t.co/CE8OiClSwt pic.twitter.com/TLGyDUQB7x

— Stern Show (@sternshow) October 20, 2018