Kim Thayil's Memoir 'A Screaming Life' Offers Intimate Look at Soundgarden and Seattle Grunge Scene
Soundgarden co-founding guitarist Kim Thayil has released his memoir 'A Screaming Life: Into the Superunknown with Soundgarden and Beyond' on June 9, 2026, chronicling the band's rise, its breakup, and the death of frontman Chris Cornell. The book, co-written with journalist Adem Tepedelen, covers the Seattle grunge scene, Soundgarden's DIY ethos, and Thayil's personal grief, while also correcting longstanding factual errors about the band's history. Separately, Thayil confirmed that surviving members Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd are working with producer Terry Date on a posthumous Soundgarden album featuring previously unreleased recordings made with Cornell before his 2017 death.
Kim Thayil's memoir, published by HarperCollins imprint William Morrow, offers an insider account of Soundgarden's formation in Seattle, their ascent as the first grunge band to sign with a major label (A&M Records in 1988), and the personal losses that shaped the band's story, including the deaths of Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, and ultimately Chris Cornell by suicide in 2017. Thayil writes candidly about his synesthesia — a condition in which senses cross-trigger — and how it influenced his approach to songwriting and arrangement. The book also addresses the band's 1997 breakup, which Thayil describes as the result of a gradual chain of events rather than a single dramatic cause. In interviews accompanying the book's release, Thayil discussed Soundgarden's deliberate DIY approach to the music business and their unusually savvy engagement with major labels. On the posthumous album front, Thayil, Cameron, and Shepherd are collaborating with producer Terry Date on material demoed between approximately 2015 and 2017, with Cornell's vocal recordings serving as the foundation; the process has been described as emotionally taxing but a labor of love, with the band working around individual schedules rather than a conventional studio timeline. The project follows a 2023 out-of-court resolution with Cornell's widow Vicky Cornell, who had been in a prolonged legal dispute with the surviving members over ownership and release rights to the recordings.
What's missing
The articles do not specify a release date or title for the posthumous Soundgarden album, nor do they clarify how many tracks it will contain or when it is expected to be completed.
How coverage differed
Salon provided an enthusiastic, detailed review framing the memoir as a standout cultural artifact and emphasizing Thayil's emotional generosity and humor, while NPR and Forbes took more neutral, interview-driven approaches focused on Thayil's own words about the book's themes and the posthumous album. Blabbermouth concentrated almost entirely on the posthumous album and the legal history with Vicky Cornell, with minimal attention to the memoir itself.
What different sources said
- SalonLeft
Kim Thayil’s “A Screaming Life” will make you hear Soundgarden differently
- BLABBERMOUTH.NETCenter
KIM THAYIL On Finishing SOUNDGARDEN's Final Album With CHRIS CORNELL: 'It's Emotionally Difficult And Challenging'
- NPR CultureLeft
Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil chronicles the band's ascent in his new memoir
- ForbesCenter
Kim Thayil On New Book A Screaming Life, Preserving Soundgarden Legacy
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