Cornell’s autopsy report revealed a lorazepam plasma level of 41 ng/mL – roughly equivalent to a 1-h peak level following a single oral ingestion of 4 mg. Nevertheless, online accounts by his peers and friends suggest that he was in fact extremely happy in the months leading up to his death, although other accounts by his family suggest that he was having insomnia, restlessness, and agitation, and he was prescribed the benzodiazepine lorazepam for the 20 months prior to his death. Indeed, his early lyrics do suggest a particular enduring sensitivity to the vicissitudes of depressed and suicidal states. The rock-and-roll world grieves over the loss of this legendary vocalist, lyricist, songwriter, and guitarist.Ĭornell had in years past struggled with and talked openly about his seemingly autonomous and recurrent bouts of severe depression that were painfully intensified by his intermittent alcohol and substance abuse, although whether any formal diagnoses were ever rendered is unknown. He was widely regarded by his peers, fans, and critics as having one of the best rock and roll voices of our generation. He won 3 Grammy Awards, one of which was for his song “Black Hole Sun” for the Best Hard Rock Performance in 1995, and he was nominated numerous other times for Grammy and Golden Globe Awards. Cornell had been the front man for the internationally acclaimed bands Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, and Audioslave, where he achieved multiplatinum success and composed 13 albums in addition to the 5 additional albums he composed as a solo artist. In May 2017, Seattle-inspired rock-and-roll superstar Chris Cornell at age 52 years tragically and unexpectedly hanged himself after a concert performance in Detroit. Limitations: The Cornell hypothesis was formulated based in part on several speculative inferences regarding the course of his functioning just prior to his suicide. It is hoped that Cornell’s legacy and sensitive hypothesis inspire research into the etiology and treatment of the spring seasonality of suicide risk and mixed mood states. Conclusions: Cornell, in his life and music, left us with a novel and important hypothesis about the spring seasonality of suicide, namely, that the yearly suicide risk becomes maximal when winter turns to spring and there emerges a deadly mixed mood state under a May photoperiod, i.e., the suicide risk is maximal when a Black Hole Sun occurs in May. Results: Cornell’s lyrics contain clear indicators of mixed depressive and seasonal imagery, highlighting 3 fundamental axioms of suicidology: (1) the yearly suicide rhythm peaks in May in the northern hemisphere, (2) mixed depressive states are particularly lethal, and (3) the suicide risk increases dramatically when recovering from depression and mood turns mixed. Methods: Review of Cornell’s lyrics and literature on suicide. The present work explores Cornell’s May suicide from a chronobiologic perspective.
Cornell’s most famous song, Black Hole Sun, suggests a mixed mood state, the incidence of which also peaks in the spring. Years earlier, Cornell had suffered openly from recurrent bouts of severe depression, and his early musical lyrics do indeed suggest an enduring sensitivity to the vicissitudes of depressed and suicidal states. In the northern hemisphere, May represents the peak of the widely replicated but still unexplained seasonal spring rhythm in suicide. Purpose: Seattle-inspired rock and roll superstar Chris Cornell died by suicide in May 2017.