Chris Cornell Covers Prince’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U,’ Kicks Off Solo Acoustic Tour

Chris Cornell, known as the lead vocalist of Soundgarden, has been busy on the road promoting his latest solo endeavor, Higher Truth. Recently, Cornell performed his rendition of a Prince song made famous by Sinead O’Connor.

Cornell stripped down the song “Nothing Compares 2 U” to the bare essentials, his ragged and soulful voice accompanied by a guitar and a cello. See the video below.

“Nothing Compares 2 U” is just one of the cover songs fans will hear during Chris Cornell’s tour. As reported by Rolling Stone, Cornell has also performed a number of other covers, including Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” John Lennon’s “Imagine,” and even the 1825 composition “Ave Maria” by Franz Schubert.

Cornell’s latest solo album, Higher Truth, was released on September 18. It is the follow-up to his controversial Scream album released in 2009. In an interview, Cornell talked about the album.

“Writing an album like Higher Truth, the same as it was writing any of my solo records, there’s always this effort to try to make it different than the band that I’m known for. Mainly just ’cause I’ve never — as a music fan — never really liked when those two lines get kind of smeared.”

The first single from Higher Truth is “Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart,” and the video was released early in September. The video, which features actors W. Earl Brown and Eric Roberts, has a Wild West setting, envisioned by Chris Cornell himself, and tells a love story. Watch the video below to see the unexpected ending.

Chris Cornell kicked off his tour on September 20 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, as reported by Billboard. The audience was packed with 2,200 people, among them were Rage Against the Machine bassist and his former Audioslave bandmate Tim Commerford and System of A Down’s Serj Tankian.

Cornell talked to the crowd and said how excited he was to play at the Disney Hall. He started doing acoustic shows four years ago, and he did not want to perform at “juke joints” or bars as he said that classic venues, such as the Disney Hall, made him “look a lot f**k better.”

During the concert, Chris Cornell performed some tracks from Audioslave and Soundgarden, as well as some of his own songs. He also covered songs from Temple of the Dog, and he had an impressive mash-up of U2’s “One” with the lyrics of Metallica’s “One.”

The night wasn’t complete without a song dedicated to his wife who at the audience. He sang “Josephine,” which is one of the songs included in his new album.

The night ended with Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” and two other songs from Led Zeppelin, “Misery Chain” and “Thank You.”

Check out Chris Cornell’s tour dates here.

[Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images]