SEATTLE — After a year and a half of contentious litigation, Soundgarden and Vicky Cornell, the wife of late singer Chris Cornell, have reached a temporary agreement on at least one piece of the ongoing lawsuit.
Under the agreement, which both sides announced Wednesday morning, Soundgarden and its management team will take control of Soundgarden's social media channels and website, which Vicky Cornell had been operating. Through the courts, the band had previously sought an injunction against Cornell and accused her of locking the band out of the accounts after Chris Cornell's death and the ensuing legal battle between the two sides.
In the interim, Soundgarden's surviving members Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd had launched social media handles of their own under the anagram Nudedragons, a name the band used for its famous 2010 reunion at the Showbox.
According to the band's representatives, the deal includes Soundgarden's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram handles and took effect Tuesday. News of the accord comes after a scheduled Tuesday hearing in U.S. District Court's Western District of Washington around Soundgarden's injunction request, which the band abruptly pulled on Tuesday.
"The agreement marks a productive first step towards healing and open dialogue, and the parties wish for the social media accounts to celebrate the Band's accomplishments and music while continuing to honor Chris' legacy," both camps wrote in a joint statement.
"Through our joint social media efforts and our temporary agreement, my family, along with the surviving members of Soundgarden, hope to celebrate Chris and his music out of mutual respect and love," said Vicky Cornell in a separate statement. "We all recognize the profound pain caused by Chris's tragic loss and the path it has taken us down."
Despite the rare sign of progress between the two sides, the crux of the dispute — control of Chris Cornell vocal recordings that the band contends were for an in-the-works Soundgarden album — remains unsettled.
