Soundgarden Members To Reunite For Seattle Benefit Concert

Members of Soundgarden have announced plans to reunite for an upcoming benefit concert in their hometown of Seattle.

The performance will take place on December 14th at the Showbox as part of SMooCH, an annual campaign to raise funds for Seattle Children’s Hospital’s uncompensated care fund.

The upcoming gig also features a number of musical luminaries including Sebadoh, Doug Martsch of Built To Spill, Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses, and the newly-announced Nudedragons. For those playing at home, Nudedragons is a pseudonymous anagram of Soundgarden.

Notably, this isn’t the first time that the band have played the venue, with Soundgarden having previously adopted the name for their first reunion show back in 2010.

The lineup for the performance will feature the group’s classic lineup, including guitarist Kim Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron, and bassist Ben Shepherd. Vocalist Shaina Shepherd will front the group for what is described as a “brief encore performance”.

While Soundgarden’s initial run from 1984 to 1997 was followed by a reunion in 2010, the group announced the retirement of the band name in 2018 – one year after the death of vocalist Chris Cornell.

Soundgarden’s members have since reunited in the wake of Cornell’s passing, including a 2019 tribute concert called I Am The Highway which saw various vocalists taking on lead duties for the band’s songs. One of those musicians, Taylor Hawkins, passed away in 2022, with Soundgarden members again reuniting to perform for his own tribute concert later that year.

On what would have been Cornell's 60th birthday in July, his wife Vicky shared a video of her late husband singing the Tracy Chapman classic, Fast Car, and teased additional music to be unleashed from the vault.

“On his 60th we can all celebrate his genius as an artist who redefined music, but also the incredible man who touched and changed lives,” she said. “He’s an icon, and he gave us all so much — his unique voice, his poetry, his creativity… his life was a gift to so many. And as you can hear — there’s more to come!!!”