The late Chris Cornell’s 15-year-old daughter, Toni Cornell, performed an acoustic rendition of the Temple of the Dog classic “Hunger Strike” during a livestream that raised funds for COVID-19 relief efforts.
Toni’s performance took place over the weekend as part of the three-day “Music Lives” fund-raising livestream hosted by streaming platform LiveXLive (formerly Slacker Radio). The teenager was introduced by former MTV veejay Matt Pinfield, who remarked that Toni’s father was “one of the greatest rock singers of all time.”
Before beginning the song, Toni said, “I’m sitting in my dad’s studio during this crazy time and I’m going to sing one of my favorite songs for you. I love you daddy and I hope I do this some justice.”
From there, Toni sang a beautiful version of “Hunger Strike”, hitting some big vocal notes as she also played acoustic guitar. A poster of her father on the wall behind her made the performance even more touching.
Temple of the Dog were a group made up of members of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, with the band serving as a tribute to late Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood. “Hunger Strike” was famously sung by Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder, and appeared on the outfit’s lone 1991 album. In 2016, the band reunited for a tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the LP.
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In September of last year, Toni released a single called “Far Away Places” that her dad helped produce prior to his death in 2017. She previously released a duet of her and Chris singing the Prince-penned “Nothing Compares 2 U”, and performed Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” in tribute to her father and Chester Bennington on Good Morning America.
Proceeds from this past weekend’s “Music Lives” livestream benefitted the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund. Watch Toni Cornell’s performance in the Tweet below.
Watch Chris’s 15 year old daughter, Toni Cornell‘s cover of #HungerStrike from her dad’s home studio for @livexlive with @mattpinfield. All proceeds going to @MusiCares. #covid19relieffund pic.twitter.com/UIVA6RPda9
— Chris Cornell (@chriscornell) April 19, 2020
