Chris Cornell’s Widow Helps Launch Children’s Music Therapy Program in His Memory

Today marks what would have been Chris Cornell’s 53rd birthday. To celebrate and honor his legacy, his widow, Vicky Cornell, has donated $100,000 to Seattle-based nonprofit Childhaven to establish a new music-therapy program in memory of the late Soundgarden lead singer, Billboard reports.

“The Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation is excited to join Childhaven to support its extraordinary work impacting the lives of those in need,” Vicky Cornell said in a statement. “Chris and I always shared a strong belief in the healing and inspiring power of music, and through Childhaven’s establishment of this program, we are able to keep the promise for Chris by continuing to protect the world’s most vulnerable children.”

The Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation was formed in 2012 to protect vulnerable children who suffer from poverty, homelessness and neglect, and has previously worked with Childhaven, which aids children who have experienced trauma and abuse.

Cornell passed away on May 18 in Detroit, the victim of an apparent suicide. In honor of the late grunge legend with the golden voice, we’re looking back at the 15 Best Chris Cornell Songs, as well as the 50 Best Grunge Songs, where Cornell and Soundgarden appear three times. You can also watch Nora Jones’s mournful cover of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun,” which she performed a week after Cornell’s death.