Shaina Shepherd Responds to Question About Soundgarden Future

Shaina Shepherd, the singer who fronted a benefit performance featuring the members of Soundgarden last month, has addressed some of the ongoing questions about whether her appearance with the band might lead to something more permanent.

Back in December, Shepherd joined surviving Soundgarden members Matt Cameron, Kim Thayil and Ben Shepherd for an encore performance at the 13th Annual SMooCH benefit for Seattle’s Children’s Hospital. The band performed under their pseudonym Nudedragons and played a six-song set that also included a guest turn from Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan.

READ MORE: Watch Soundgarden Members Play Early Hits at 2024 Benefit Show

Naturally, the appearance left fans with questions about the group’s future given that they’ve performed so rarely in the aftermath of Chris Cornell’s death. Music Magazine Hot Metal posed a question on their Facebook page after the performance asking whether or not Shepherd’s appearance with the band should be a more permanent thing and the Bearaxe vocalist herself got involved into the comments.

What Shaina Shepherd Said About Fronting Nudedragons

When there were some dissenting remarks in the comments about her potentially singing with the group, Shepherd responded, “Haters gonna hate while I live my dream.”

When one person defended their right to express their opinion without being accused of “hate,” Shepherd responded, “Soundgarden is a revolutionary band that changed my life, your life, the world. I could never front Soundgarden. But I love making music with those guys. I did it for me, for them like any other music endeavor.”

She added, “I don’t care what any of you think – never did. I care what they think – always will. This whole article is meaningless. Just like your timeline.”

Soundgarden’s Post-Chris Cornell Performances

As stated, it’s been the rare occasion that the members of Soundgarden have taken the state together since Chris Cornell’s 2017 death. The first such instance took place on Jan. 16, 2019, when members from across the music world united to pay tribute to Cornell and the band’s music at the “I Am the Highway” tribute concert in Los Angeles.

At that show, the living members of the band played eight songs from their catalog with The Pretty Reckless’ Taylor Momsen, Zen Guerrilla’s Marcus Durant, Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins and Brandi Carlile all taking turns on vocals.

It was another tribute that got the band members Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron back onstage together in 2022. This time they were saluting the life of late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, with the two Soundgarden musicians joined by Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl, Pat Smear and Taylor Momsen on vocals for performances of “The Day I Tried to Live” and “Black Hole Sun.”

The union of Thayil, Cameron and Shepherd onstage with Shaina Shepherd at the SMooCh benefit marked their third such outing since Cornell’s passing.