Vicky Cornell Suing Soundgarden Members Over Buyout Price
The ongoing legal battle between Chris Cornell's widow, Vicky Cornell and the members of Soundgarden continues, with TMZ reporting that Cornell has filed another lawsuit against the group over reaching a deal on a buyout price.
According to documents obtained by TMZ, Cornell claims that the three Soundgarden musicians offered her $300,000 for Chris Cornell's share, which she says is a sum less than what she received for her cut of the 2018 royalties for the group's masters. Moreover, the offer was only for Soundgarden’s recorded music, not its brand, assets, merch, or future touring.
According to Cornell's reps, Vicky offered offered the band members $7 million dollars each for a total of $21 million, a sum that the band members rejected.
She also alleges that the group received an offer of $16 million from an outside investor for the group's masters, and has claimed that the group members have denied her access to inventory and financial documents. As such, Cornell felt that she had no choice but to take the action so that a proper accounting of the band's assets could take place.
Cornell also posted on Instagram a message stating, "MY TRUTH stands stronger than YOUR LIES. MY WILL stands stronger than YOUR MOTIVES. MY LOVE stands stronger than YOUR HATRED" along with a photo of Chris Cornell and their children.
A rep for the band told TMZ, "As requested by the Estate of Chris Cornell and as required by the laws of the State of Washington, the surviving members of Soundgarden submitted to the Cornell Estate four months ago a buy-out offer of the Estate’s interests in Soundgarden calculated by respected music industry valuation expert Gary Cohen."
The rep continues, "Since then, the band members have continued to try to settle all disputes with the Cornell Estate and in their several attempts to settle, the band members have elected to offer multiple times more than the amount calculated by Cohen."
The rep finishes by saying, "This dispute has never been about money for the band. This is their life's work and their legacy."
Cornell's lawyer Marty Singer responded in a statement, "The band’s contention that this dispute is somehow not about the money for them is absurd and hypocritical. Of course this is about money and their greed. They received a third party offer to buy just a portion of their interests for 16 million dollars, and yet subsequently offered to buy out Chris’ interest for a mere $278,000. And then Vicky offered $21 million for their shares, which they turned down – not because they wanted to preserve their life’s work but because they know that they will make even more off of future exploitation of the music that Chris wrote and the legacy that he created (which has lined their pockets for years)."
Back in December, Vicky Cornell reaffirmed her commitment that Cornell's Soundgarden work would be heard. "All of Chris' music, including Soundgarden, will see the light of day because there's nothing in the world that lifts me [more] than sharing Chris' gifts, having people speak his name, and having his music out there," Cornell assured in a USA Today interview. "He's alive that way and his legacy lives on," she continued. "So it's the most important thing to me, seeing how much people love him, miss him, respect him, and how much we want more of his music out there. So everything will be released."