According to TMZ, Chris Cornell's widow has sued the surviving members of SOUNDGARDEN over royalties and the rights to unreleased recordings.
In the lawsuit, Vicky Cornell claims the musicians are withholding hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties owed to her and Chris's minor children.
She calls the move an "unlawful attempt to strong-arm Chris' Estate into turning over certain audio recordings created by Chris before he passed away."
Vicky claims the seven unreleased songs were "solely authored by Chris; contain Chris' own vocal tracks; and were bequeathed to Chris' Estate" for the benefit of her and their kids.
Vicky says that she has offered to share the recordings with SOUNDGARDEN, so they can be released in a way that respects Chris's wishes — including having his producer involved — but that the band refused.
SOUNDGARDEN was working on new music before Cornell's death in May 2017, and the singer had laid down some vocal tracks. Asked if there were any obstacles to completing the LP, Thayil said: "There shouldn't be... other than the fact that we don't have those files." He continued, "I think that will happen. It would be ridiculous if it didn't. But these are difficult things — partnerships and property."