Will Soundgarden Tour Again?

Now that we’ve seen them perform a few times with other singers, will Soundgarden ever tour again?

The grunge pioneers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this past weekend, joining fellow Seattle natives Nirvana (inducted in 2014) and Pearl Jam (inducted in 2017). Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd were all present for the ceremony and were also joined by original bassist Hiro Yamamoto, who left the group in 1989.

Actor and friend of the band Jim Carrey inducted the band into the Hall and then they performed two songs, “Rusty Cage” and “Black Hole Sun.” They were joined by Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, The Pretty Reckless’ Taylor Momsen and Brandi Carlile.

Late vocalist Chris Cornell’s presence was felt heavily. But now that the surviving members of Soundgarden have performed a few times with other vocalists, will they ever return the way Alice In Chains did in 2009 with William DuVall or Linkin Park just last year with Emily Armstrong?

Will Soundgarden Tour Again?

Soundgarden have spent the last few years putting together the album they started working on with Cornell just before he died in 2017. Since he’d recorded some vocal tracks, they’ve been able to piece the songs together by adding each of their respective parts.

During an interview with The Seattle Times ahead of the Rock Hall induction ceremony, Cameron was asked whether the band has any plans to take the new songs out on the road.

“We haven’t really gotten there yet,” the drummer said [via Alternativenation.net]. “We’re just trying to get the music together. But I think there might be some situations where it would be really cool to do that.”

“It’s just a matter of getting the right people together and we’ve got some amazing people that we’ve been working with, some singers that have expressed interest. So, we’re really, really excited about what that could potentially look like.”

Who Could Sing With Soundgarden on a Future Tour?

It goes without saying that no one can replace the sheer power and strength of Cornell vocally. That being said, plenty of other bands have returned with new vocalists, including the aforementioned Alice in Chains and Linkin Park, as well as AC/DC and many others.

Thayil, Shepherd and Cameron have played together a handful of times with several different singers, including Momsen and Carlile, since Cornell’s death in 2017. Additionally, they played a benefit show under the anagram Nudedragons with Seattle vocalist Shaina Shepherd in December of 2024.

It’s unclear whether Cameron was referring to one of those vocalists during his chat with The Seattles Times or someone completely different and we can’t quite speculate about who could sing for them on tour just yet.

Is Soundgarden’s Last Album With Chris Cornell Almost Done?

The members have all mentioned the album being over halfway done in interviews recently but Shepherd went into a bit more detail about what that process has looked like during a conversation with Bass Magazine. 

“We’re making good progress and have a big portion of the album completed. There’s one song that I need to talk to Matt and Kim about, but it’s ultimately done now. It’s always hard to decide when a track is officially finished in the studio, but as far as the rhythm section goes, we’re finished. Finishing this album totally makes me miss Chris more,” the bassist shared.

Shepherd revealed that he blistered his hands playing the bass for one of the songs, which he and Thayil refer to as “mighty.” And in typical Soundgarden fashion, at least one of the songs has a “tricky” time signature.

READ MORE: Soundgarden’s Emotional Rock Hall Performance Brings Surprise

“The other day it dawned on me again, on a deeper level, that the minute we’re done with this record and the minute I play my final note on it, does that mean we’re never going to do it again? What does this mean?” Shepherd continued.

“Without Chris we aren’t Soundgarden. Who knows, maybe selfishly we’ll just keep tracking the record so that we can keep working on it and preserving the moment in time.”