Everything We Know About Soundgarden’s Final Album

A long-anticipated chapter in Soundgarden’s story appears to be moving closer to the light. For nearly a decade, fans have wondered whether the Seattle icons’ final studio work — recordings that include vocals by the late Chris Cornell — would ever surface. Over the past year, a series of developments has made that possibility more real: legal disputes were settled, surviving band members confirmed progress on finishing tracks, and multiple interviews have shed new light on the project’s scope and status. Here’s everything we know so far about Soundgarden’s final album: what’s on it, how it came to be, who is finishing it, and when we might actually hear it.

Origins: recordings from before Cornell’s death

The material at the center of this project dates back to sessions the band worked on prior to Chris Cornell’s passing in May 2017. Band members and reporting by outlets tracking the story say these were songs Soundgarden had begun developing around the mid-2010s — pieces that, at the time of Cornell’s death, remained unfinished and unreleased. Those demo and vocal recordings are the source material the band is now working with to assemble a final studio album.

The legal roadblock — and its resolution

One of the biggest obstacles to releasing the recordings was a protracted legal dispute between the surviving members of Soundgarden and Chris Cornell’s widow and estate. That legal friction, which included claims and counters about ownership and control of unfinished material, delayed any formal progress for years. In April 2023 the parties announced an out-of-court settlement that cleared the way for the music to be finished and released — an agreement journalists called a turning point that enabled collaborative work between the band and Cornell’s estate to proceed.

Who’s involved in finishing the record

The surviving core of Soundgarden — guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Ben Shepherd, and drummer Matt Cameron — are handling the work of completing the album. Matt Cameron has been the most visible spokesperson on progress, giving recent interviews in which he described the emotional and technical process of working with Chris Cornell’s voice on tracks the band started before 2017. Kim Thayil has publicly expressed a determination to ensure the material is finished respectfully and to the band’s standards. The collaboration with Cornell’s estate (and the practical access to his unfinished vocals) has enabled the group to move from legal limbo into the production phase.

How many songs — and what do they sound like?

Different outlets have reported slightly different counts, but reporting converges on the idea that the body of work consists of a relatively small set of complete or near-complete songs — roughly seven to eight tracks that were being developed with Cornell’s participation before his death. Journalists say these are not simply alternate takes or rough voice memos: many have fully formed vocal performances that the band believes can be integrated into finished studio tracks. Early descriptions from band members emphasize that the songs sound like mature Soundgarden — heavy, layered, and rooted in the band’s trademark blend of metallic weight and odd-metered, melodic hooks — though final production choices remain in the hands of Thayil, Shepherd and Cameron.

Where the project stands now

In September 2025 Matt Cameron told Billboard and other outlets that the band is “over halfway done” with finishing the project, and that work continues on guitar parts and production choices. Other recent interviews echoed Cameron’s update: production and overdubs are in progress, and the band is taking time to craft the arrangements properly rather than rush a release. One outlet reported the work might be as much as around 70% complete — a status that signals meaningful studio progress but still leaves important finishing steps (mixing, mastering, sequencing and any approvals with the estate) to be completed.

Timing: when might we hear it?

Despite clear progress, the band and sources have been cautious about commit- ting to a release date. Billboard and other outlets have relayed Cameron’s comments that there is no set release timetable and that the album is unlikely to appear before Soundgarden’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in November 2025. That induction — itself a poignant milestone that brings the band back into the spotlight — likely influenced the group’s decision to avoid rushing a record out ahead of that event. In short: the album is being finished, but a public release date has not been announced.

The emotional stakes: finishing Cornell’s voice

All reporting underscores the emotional complexity of the project. Cameron has described hearing Cornell’s voice on the tracks as “bittersweet” and “powerful,” an experience that can be both moving and difficult for the band. For fans, the prospect of hearing previously unreleased Cornell vocals is urgent and profound; for the musicians who shared a long history with him, completing the record carries responsibilities — musical, ethical and personal — to respect Chris’s legacy and the truth of the recordings. Those human dimensions are central to why the band has publicly stressed careful finishing rather than rushing to market.

Estate involvement and rights

Reports indicate that the 2023 settlement with Cornell’s estate included terms that permitted Soundgarden to use the final vocal recordings, while also clarifying ownership and compensation issues that had previously been in dispute. Outlets that covered the settlement framed it as an important reconciliation that enabled the music to move forward: the estate and the band reached an agreement intended to honor Cornell’s artistic intentions while allowing his bandmates to complete songs they’d begun together. The exact financial and legal terms were not public.

What fans should — and shouldn’t — expect

A few practical expectations are reasonably solid right now:

• This will not be a sprawling double album or a compilation of dozens of unfinished takes — reporting consistently suggests a compact collection of seven to eight songs built around Cornell’s last Soundgarden vocal performances.
• The band is taking a conservative, quality-first approach: expect careful production that aims to present the material authentically rather than aggressively rework Cornell’s vocals.
• Don’t expect a release before late 2025 (and even that remains optimistic): the band has explicitly said there’s no set date and that the Rock Hall induction is a separate priority.

Questions that remain

Despite the advancements, several open questions remain:

• Will there be singles released ahead of a full album rollout — and if so, which song(s) will the band choose as a representative single?
• Will the record be credited as a full Soundgarden album (their seventh) or framed as a more limited “final sessions” release? Early coverage often calls it Soundgarden’s “final album,” but the band’s final packaging and messaging will matter a great deal to fans and critics.
• What role will archival materials (alternate mixes, demos, liner-note essays, or contributions from guest musicians) play in the final product? That will depend on decisions by the band and Cornell’s estate.
• How will streaming, vinyl and physical distribution be handled — especially for collectors who want a commemorative package?

A delicate final chapter

For many, this project is less about commerce than about closure: a final, collaborative statement from a band that helped define a generation of American rock. The fact that the album exists at all — that the surviving members and Cornell’s estate found a way to reconcile and finish the music — has been described by those involved as a “gift” to Chris and to fans who long to hear more of his voice in a Soundgarden context. At the same time, the band’s insistence on careful work suggests they want the record to feel like an honest and fitting capstone, not a hastily assembled afterthought.

Final word

The next few months should reveal more concrete milestones: which songs will surface first, how the band will frame the release, and when the public will finally hear what some have called the last true Soundgarden studio recordings with Chris Cornell. Until then, what we have are responsible, steady updates from the people closest to the music: a legal settlement that made the project possible, hands-on work from Thayil, Shepherd and Cameron, and the knowledge that the band is more than halfway through the process. When the record does arrive, it will almost certainly be treated as both a major music release and a deeply personal coda to one of grunge’s defining voices.

Sources: recent interviews and reporting by Billboard, Rolling Stone, Consequence, People, Pitchfork and other music outlets covering Soundgarden’s ongoing work on their final album.

*If you’d like, I can now draft a headline and social posts to promote the album release when the band announces it, or create a timeline graphic summarizing the 2015–2025 story behind these recordings.*