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Soundgarden is een voormalige Amerikaanse rockband uit Seattle die in 1984 werd opgericht door zanger en drummer Chris Cornell, gitarist Kim Thayil en bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Matt Cameron werd de bands vaste drummer in 1986 en bassist Ben Shepherd werd in 1990 de definitieve vervanger van Yamamoto. Op 18 mei 2017 werd bekend dat zanger Chris Cornell op 52-jarige leeftijd in Detroit is overleden. Persbureau AP meldde dat het management het overlijden 'plotseling en onverwacht' heeft genoemd.

Soundgarden was een van de oorspronkelijke bands die 'grunge' creëerden, een vorm van alternatieve rock die ontstaan is in Seattle. Hoewel de band jaren eerder begon en vergeleken met hun tijdgenoten meer gelijkenissen heeft met bands als Black Sabbath en Led Zeppelin, wordt de band beschouwd als een van de grote vier grungebands van de jaren negentig, samen met Alice in Chains, Nirvana en Pearl Jam. Soundgarden was een van de vele grungebands die onder contract stonden bij het indie-label Sub Pop en was de eerste grungeband die tekende bij een grote platenmaatschappij (A&M Records in 1988). De band werd echter pas commercieel succesvol nadat grunge aan het begin van de jaren negentig populair werd gemaakt door met name Nirvana en Pearl Jam.

Soundgardens grootste succes was het album Superunknown uit 1994, waarvan de singles "Black Hole Sun" en "Spoonman" beiden bekroond werden met een Grammy Award. In 1997 ging de groep uit elkaar vanwege artistieke meningsverschillen. De bandleden hielden zich enkele jaren met andere projecten bezig tot zij herenigden in 2010. Twee jaar later werd de reünie bezegeld met het uitbrengen van King Animal, de bands zesde studioalbum.

Wereldwijd heeft Soundgarden meer dan twintig miljoen platen verkocht, waarvan zo'n acht miljoen in de Verenigde Staten.

Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell switched to rhythm guitar in 1985, replaced on drums initially by Scott Sundquist, and later by Matt Cameron in 1986. Yamamoto left in 1989 and was replaced initially by Jason Everman and shortly thereafter by Ben Shepherd. Soundgarden disbanded in 1997 and reformed in 2010. Following Cornell's death in 2017, Thayil declared in October 2018 that Soundgarden had disbanded a second time. The surviving members of the band have continued to occasionally work together since then, including reuniting for a one-off concert in tribute to Cornell in January 2019, and again in December 2024 for a benefit concert in Seattle with Shaina Shepherd on vocals under the anagram Nudedragons.

Soundgarden was one of the pioneers of grunge music, a style of alternative rock that developed in the American Pacific Northwest in the mid-1980s, and helped to popularize it in the early 1990s, alongside such Seattle contemporaries as Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana. They were the first of a number of grunge bands to sign to the Seattle-based record label Sub Pop, through which they released two EPs: Screaming Life (1987) and Fopp (1988). Soundgarden's debut album, Ultramega OK, was also released in 1988 by the Los Angeles-based independent label SST Records; although the album did not sell well nationally, it garnered critical acclaim and the band's first Grammy Award nomination. Soundgarden was the first grunge band to be signed to a major label when they signed to A&M Records in 1988. The release of their second album, Louder Than Love (1989), was the band's first album to enter the Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number 108, and spawned two radio hits: "Hands All Over" and "Loud Love".

Soundgarden's third album Badmotorfinger (1991) helped usher in the mainstream success of grunge. The album was buoyed by the success of the singles "Jesus Christ Pose", "Outshined", and "Rusty Cage", reached number 39 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The band's fourth album, Superunknown (1994), expanded their popularity; it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and yielded the Grammy Award-winning singles "Spoonman" and "Black Hole Sun". Soundgarden experimented with new sonic textures on their follow-up album Down on the Upside (1996), which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and spawned several hit singles of its own, including "Pretty Noose", "Burden in My Hand", and "Blow Up the Outside World". In 1997, the band broke up due to internal strife over its creative direction and exhaustion from touring. After more than a decade of working on projects and other bands, they reunited in 2010. Republic Records released their sixth and final studio album, King Animal, in 2012.

By 2019, Soundgarden had sold more than 14 million records in the United States and an estimated 30 million worldwide. VH1 ranked them at number 14 in their special, 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock list. The band was selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025.