US judge and Soundgarden fan encourages settlement in ongoing dispute between band and Chris Cornell’s widow

completemusicupdate.com:

A judge in Seattle overseeing a legal battle between Soundgarden and the widow of their late frontman Chris Cornell urged both parties to seek a settlement yesterday.

Mainly because he’s a fan of the band and is worried that the dispute is tarnishing their legacy, as well as delaying the release of new material featuring vocals recorded by Cornell before his death.At the heart of this legal battle are various recordings Cornell made prior to his death in 2017, and a dispute over who owns said recordings and how they might be released.Though in a lawsuit filed in 2019, Vicky Cornell also accused the other members of Soundgarden of withholding royalties due to her late husband’s estate and making false statements in a bid to force her hand over the recordings.A second lawsuit was then filed in 2021 in relation to another dispute over the valuation of Cornell’s share in the band and their business.The two lawsuits were then consolidated by the courts, with a magistrate judge subsequently publishing an opinion on the dispute which more or less sided with the band, concluding that Cornell had not provided sufficient evidence to back up her allegations.The ongoing case – and the conclusions of that magistrate judge – were discussed at a session yesterday overseen by judge Robert S Lasnik, a self-declared fan of Soundgarden and the Seattle grunge scene they emerged from.According to Law360, he told legal reps for both Cornell and the band that the litigation was a “terrible distraction” from the legacy of Soundgarden, adding: “I hope the lawyers will take a look at this and say, ‘Is there really that much dispute here about what should happen and can we give people what they are entitled to and move on?'”Despite the magistrate.