Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder still hasn't "dealt" with Chris Cornell's death

3 November 2020, 10:43 | Updated: 3 November 2020, 10:48

Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell at the 28th Annual Bridge School Benefit Concert - Day 2. Picture: Steve Jennings/WireImage

The Pearl Jam frontman has opened up about the passing of the Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman, who tragically lost his life to suicide in 2017.

Eddie Vedder has revealed he hasn't "dealt" with the grief of losing Chris Cornell and he is still "somewhat in denial" about it.

The Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman tragically lost his life to suicide on 18 May 2017, and the Pearl Jam singer has admitted he hasn't fully tackled his passing as he's "terrified" of entering a "dark place".

Speaking on The Howard Stern Show, the grunge rocker said: “I’ve had to be somewhat in denial.

“I don’t even feel like I had a choice. I was just terrified where I would go if I allowed myself to feel what I needed to feel or what I was instinctively wanting to feel or how dark I felt like I was gonna go.

“And because I didn’t see him that often in the last 10 years – probably only, like, four or five times, and usually at a gig or something – I still haven’t quite dealt with it. I’ll get stronger as time goes."

Watch a clip of his interview here:

Eddie Vedder Remembers Chris Cornell

Despite not seeing Cornell that much in his later years, Vedder has fond memories of hanging out with his "close friend" in their home city of Seattle.

"I would hang out with him outside of the band more than even the other band guys, and I didn’t know that many people in Seattle," the Alive singer added. "So we would go on crazy hiking adventures, or we would go mountain biking, or we would chase the dog in the rain while drinking s***** beer— and it was cool.

"And it had nothing to do with anything like being around other music people or being around some kind of LA life. It was just cool. Like, wow, this is what a quote-unquote legit rock star, this is what he’s doing – he’s chasing a dog in the rain with his buddy on a Saturday night with a 12-pack of Schmidt?"

WATCH: Chris Cornell's daughter Toni covers Pearl Jam's Black

Chris Cornell and daughter Toni duet on Nothing Compares 2 U

Meanwhile, Cornell's Soundgarden bandmate Kim Thayil has said that Chris Cornell tribute show was like "picking at an open wound".

Though Thayil and the remaining members of the band, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd, loved playing together with their friends, the rocker admitted that he found the rest of the memorial "a little bit uncomfortable".

The guitarist explained to Kerrang!: "The best thing about it was playing those songs again with Matt and Ben, and the next best thing was having our friends and guests join us. The rest was a little bit uncomfortable. It was sort of a cluster****.

"It was picking at an open wound, emotionally, and nobody was that thrilled to do it. We were thrilled to play the songs for our audience, and to play with each other onstage. The takeaway was the band being together with our family, crew and friends. To see that family together again was love. Everyone was happy and teary-eyed. It was the Soundgarden family together, doing what Soundgarden does and honouring and missing our beloved, departed member."