"My husband was the furthest thing from a rockstar junkie."
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Vicky Cornell, the widow of Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, recently discussed her husband's tragic death on ABC's Good Morning America.
Cornell was found hanged in his room at the MGM Grand Detroit hotel in May 2017 after a Soundgarden show at the Fox Theatre. His body was found soon after he spoke on the phone to Vicky with a "slurred" voice, and his death was ruled a suicide.
However, his family are questioning the medical examiner's decision, saying that he had a prescription for a benzodiazepine called Ativan and that a higher than normal dose might have caused Cornell to experience suicidal thoughts.
"I don't think that he could make any decisions because of the level of impairment," she said in the interview.
"My husband was the furthest thing from a rockstar junkie. He just wasn't [like that]. He was the best husband, the greatest father. I lost my soulmate and the love of my life. He wanted to be there for his family, for his children. He loved his life. He would never have ever left this world.
"The brain of someone who has a substance use disorder is different from that of… someone who doesn't. He relapsed," she said, adding that during one week period "he took 20-something pills… And in a nine-day period, 33."
"I know that people say, you know, 'You can't blame yourself,' and, you know, I'm trying not to, but there were signs."
"People think that addiction is, like, 'Oh, you were an addict,' and people don't recognize it as a disease, I feel guilty of the same thing. You think addiction is a choice, and it's not."
Watch part of the interview here:
