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Chris Cornell Would Have Been 56 Today – 5 Interesting Facts About the Musician

Happy birthday, Chris Cornell! The Soundgarden frontman would have been 56 today (July 20). Thank you, Chris, for the decades of amazing music and joy you brought Soundgarden fans across…

(Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

(Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Happy birthday, Chris Cornell! The Soundgarden frontman would have been 56 today (July 20). Thank you, Chris, for the decades of amazing music and joy you brought Soundgarden fans across the world.

In honor of his birthday, here are five interesting facts about Cornell and some special photos below.

1. Cornell was a huge Beatles fan. As a child, he was known to listen to the Beatles all the time after finding a collection of Beatles albums in a neighbor's house.

2. Before Soundgarden, Cornell was in a cover band in Seattle called "The Shemps."

3. He was voted "Rock's Greatest Singer" by the readers of "Guitar World" magazine. Agreed!

4. He wrote and performed the theme song for the James Bond movie: "You Know My Name" for Casino Royale.

5. His full name is actually Christopher John Boyle. Chris Cornell has a better ring!

Other birthdays:

NBA baller Ben Simmons (24)
Julianne Hough (32)
Gisele Bundchen (40)
Omar Epps (47)
Sandra Oh, Dr. Cristina Yang in the ABC series Grey's Anatomy, (49)
Lost star Josh 'Sawyer' Holloway (51)
Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard (54)
Terri Irwin, widow of Steve Irwin, (56)
Donna Dixon (63)
Carlos Santana (73)
Kim Carnes (75)

Anne Erickson started her radio career shortly after graduating from Michigan State University and has worked on-air in Detroit, Flint, Toledo, Lansing and beyond. As someone who absolutely loves rock, metal and alt music, she instantly fell in love with radio and hasn’t looked back. When she’s not working, Anne makes her own music with her band, Upon Wings, and she also loves cheering on her favorite Detroit and Michigan sports teams, especially Lions and MSU football. Anne is also an award-winning journalist, and her byline has run in a variety of national publications. You can also hear her weekends on WRIF.