Chris Cornell 's widow , Vicky , is suing the members of Soundgarden for making a significantly lower offer for her share of the band, given that she has been the custodian of his estate since his death.
According to TMZ , guitarist Kim Thayil , bassist Ben Shepherd , and drummer Matt Cameron reportedly received an offer of $16 million, while Vicky was offered less than $300,000.
“The band members knowingly offered only an infinitesimal fraction of the true value of Chris’s interest in Soundgarden and certain related entities, making a ridiculously low offer. And they know it,” explains the text of the lawsuit filed by Cornell. “Before making their absurd offer, Soundgarden had previously received an independent third-party offer from a leading music investor for several million more (although that offer only covered recorded music and did not include any other Soundgarden assets) (…) Despite having that offer in hand, the amounts offered by the band members are a pittance. In fact, the band’s offer is so low that it doesn’t even reach the royalties Vicky received for a single year (referring to 2018) from a single revenue source (the original Soundgarden masters).”
The musicians, in turn, responded to the accusations, stating, “As requested by the estate of Chris Cornell and as required by Washington state law, the surviving members of Soundgarden submitted to the estate of Chris Cornell an offer to purchase the estate's shares, calculated by respected music industry valuation expert Gary Cohen . Since then, the band members have attempted to resolve all disputes with the estate, and in their various attempts at resolution, the band members have opted to offer several times more than the value calculated by Cohen. This dispute was never about money for the band. This is their life's work and their legacy.”
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