Lily Cornell Silver, the eldest daughter of late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, made her first public performance during the MoPOP Founders Award ceremony on Tuesday night. She covered Alice in Chains’ “Black Gives Way to Blue” in tribute to the evening’s honorees.
The livestream event saw numerous grunge and alt-rock luminaries covering the songs of Alice in Chains. Members of Soundgarden participated in the festivities, and one of the evening’s major highlights came when Lily — whose mom is Alice in Chains’ longtime manager Susan Silver — played a touching piano version of “Black Gives Way to Blue” with musical accompaniment by Queensrÿche’s Chris DeGarmo.
Like her father, Lily has a strong singing voice, elevating the emotional content of an already heart-wrenching song. We can only hope this is the first of many performances from the 20-year-old.
“So very honored and excited to be a part of this year’s Founders Awards honoring Alice in Chains and benefitting the Museum of Pop Culture,” Lily said in an official statement. “These guys are, and always have been, my family, and I feel so lucky to be honoring them alongside so many amazing artists. I’m singing a song that is super meaningful to me.”
Lily also recently launched a new IGTV series on mental health called Mind Wide Open that premiered on July 20th, Chris Cornell’s birthday. The engaging program has since featured interviews with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan.
“As someone who has suffered trauma and loss as well as struggled with anxiety and depression, I know how important it is to have a space to talk openly and without shame about these subjects,” said Lily in a statement about the series.
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Lily’s half-sister Toni, Chris’ youngest daughter, has also displayed her own singing talents, covering Pearl Jam’s “Black” and Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike” during recent livestreams. She has also released her own material, with her debut single dropping last year.
Watch Lily Cornell Silver’s cover of “Black Gives Way to Blue” below (cued up to a few moments before her performance at the 1:43:20 mark). For more on Alice in Chains’ Founder Award ceremony, read our full recap.
