Vicky Cornell v. Soundgarden: Chris Cornell’s Widow Sues Over Royalties, Demos

Vicky Cornell, the widow of Chris Cornell, has filed suit against Soundgarden over alleged withheld royalties and ownership rights to unreleased Cornell recordings.

TMZ reports that in documents filed by Vicky Cornell, she's accusing the band of withholding "hundreds of thousands of dollars" worth of royalties in an "unlawful attempt to strong-arm Chris' Estate into turning over certain audio recordings created by Chris before he passed away."

These recordings have been talked about publicly by guitarist Kim Thayil multiple times, with him saying in November during an interview, "We definitely have another record in us. Stuff that's written, stuff that's demoed and recorded — certainly. All it would need is to take the audio files that are available...There shouldn't be [issues getting the record done] — there really isn't — other than the fact that we don't have those files… And I think that will happen. It would be ridiculous if it didn't. But these are difficult things — partnerships and property."

Vicky Cornell has accused Thayil of "putting her family in harm's way" by suggesting she's being difficult regarding these demos. She also contends that the demo tracks were for a solo Chris Cornell project and not one with Soundgarden. She is seeking a legal decision to determine the Cornell estate as the owner of those demos.

Soundgarden has yet to release a statement regarding this lawsuit.