SOUNDGARDEN Guitarist Dismisses CHRIS CORNELL Murder Conspiracy Theories

Chris Cornell's SOUNDGARDEN bandmate Kim Thayil has dismissed conspiracy theories that have surfaced since the singer committed suicide last year following a SOUNDGARDEN show in Detroit.

Thayil told the Detroit Free Press that he and other SOUNDGARDEN members were already en route to Columbus for the band's next date when they got word that Cornell had died back in his Detroit hotel room.

There had been no signs anything was particularly amiss that night, he said — "nothing that would have allowed us to anticipate what would happen."

"There were a few minor difficulties [early] in the show that I felt adjusted themselves within a few songs," Thayil said of Cornell's performance. "And then the rest of the show went pretty well."

Thayil also addressed what he called "cockamamie ideas floating around out there" — conspiracy theories that hit the web after Cornell's death, such as speculation the singer was murdered because he was about to expose a child sex ring allegedly associated with a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor some claimed was a front, although Washington police said that theory was "fictitious."

"The fact of the matter is there was nothing that would suggest this outcome," the guitarist said.

Chris was found hanged in his room at the MGM Grand Detroit hotel in May 2017. His body was found soon after he had spoken with a "slurred" voice to his wife, Vicky, by phone. The death was ruled a suicide.

But his family has questioned the medical examiner's ruling, saying that he had a prescription for Ativan and that a higher than recommended dosage may have caused him to experience suicidal thoughts.

In May, Vicky told The Detroit News that she did not agree with the coroner's ruling of suicide, which came just hours after the singer died from asphyxiation caused by a rubber exercise band tied around his neck.

"This has left me and my family still looking for answers, but at the same time, set off this whirlwind of conspiracies," Vicky told the paper. "Some of the people are just fans looking for answers, but some of them are conspiracy theorists who have said the most vile things to my children and me."

Last year, Macomb County Medical Examiner Daniel Spitz, who was not involved in the case, told The Detroit News that sometimes people don't want to accept when people kill themselves — especially when the victim is famous.

"People have a problem with celebrities doing this because they're wealthy and have a lifestyle everyone wants," Spitz said. "They say, 'He couldn’t have killed himself; he's got fans and people love him.' But that doesn't change what's going on inside his head."