--- title: Chris Cornell's Wife Opens Up About His Death and Addiction description: Vicky Cornell, the widow of Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, opened up about her husband's death by suicide and addiction. canonical: https://time.com/5168112/vicky-cornell-chris-cornell-interview/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-21T12:49:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:22:22.755Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Chris Cornell's Wife Opens Up About His Death og:description: 'You think addiction is a choice, and it's not' og:url: https://time.com/5168112/vicky-cornell-chris-cornell-interview/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48f6ead0439728b7/6989286022fb85e141e24d2c/vicky-chris-cornell.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Premiere Of Open Road Films' "The Promise" - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chris Cornell's Wife Opens Up About His Death twitter:description: 'You think addiction is a choice, and it's not' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48f6ead0439728b7/6989286022fb85e141e24d2c/vicky-chris-cornell.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Chris Cornell's Wife Opens Up About His Death: Addiction Is Not a Choice > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Feb 21, 2018 12:49 PM UTC  Chris Cornell and Vicky Karayiannis arrive to the Los Angeles premiere of 'The Promise' on April 12, 2017. Chris Cornell and Vicky Karayiannis arrive to the Los Angeles premiere of 'The Promise' on April 12, 2017.Tara Ziemba—Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Feb 21, 2018 12:49 PM UTC Vicky Cornell, [the widow of former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell](http://time.com/4793863/chris-cornell-wife-letter/), opened up about her husband’s death by suicide and the stigma of addiction in an emotional interview Wednesday. “My husband was the furthest thing from a rock star junkie. He just wasn’t,” Cornell told Robin Roberts on _Good Morning America_. “He was the best husband, the greatest father. I lost my soulmate and the love of my life.” Chris Cornell struggled with addiction before his death in May 2017, at age 52\. Although drugs were detected in his system on the night of his death, autopsy reports [said they were not a factor](http://time.com/4804123/chris-cornell-death-autopsy/) in his death. Cornell, however, told Roberts she believes her husband wasn’t thinking clearly that night “because of the level of impairment.” “He wanted to be there for his family, for his children. He loved his life,” she said. “He would never have ever left this world.” Cornell also spoke about the need for empathy around addiction, and the importance of considering it a medical condition. “People don’t recognize it as a disease,” she said. “You think addiction is a choice, and it’s not.” > [](https://twitter.com/GMA/status/966278797338308608) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5168112/vicky-cornell-chris-cornell-interview/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5168112/vicky-cornell-chris-cornell-interview/"},"headline":"Chris Cornell's Wife Opens Up About His Death: Addiction Is Not a Choice","datePublished":"2018-02-21T12:49:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:22:22.755Z","description":"\"People don't recognize it as a disease.\"","url":"https://time.com/5168112/vicky-cornell-chris-cornell-interview/","keywords":["Music","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48f6ead0439728b7/6989286022fb85e141e24d2c/vicky-chris-cornell.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48f6ead0439728b7/6989286022fb85e141e24d2c/vicky-chris-cornell.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Premiere Of Open Road Films' \"The Promise\" - Arrivals","caption":"Premiere Of Open Road Films' \"The Promise\" - Arrivals","creditText":"Tara Ziemba—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/music/","name":"Music"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5168112/vicky-cornell-chris-cornell-interview/","name":"Chris Cornell's Wife Opens Up About His Death: Addiction Is Not a Choice"}}]}] ```