When Chris Cornell was reported to have passed away at the age of 52, rumours began to swirl about the how and why of what led to his death.

Our last story on Friday pointed to suicide, with sources detailing the scene in the hotel bathroom where he was found.

Now Rolling Stone have put together an analysis of his final few hours, and it does raise some very interesting questions.

Let’s check that timeline:

Soon after Soundgarden’s concert ended, at 11:30 p.m., Cornell’s bodyguard Martin Kirsten said he accompanied the singer to his hotel room to help fix his computer and give him two Ativan “which victim takes for anxiety,” the police report states.

Soon after, Cornell and Vicky spoke on the phone, with the singer slurring his words, admitting he may have taken too much Ativan and repeatedly saying “I am just tired” before abruptly hanging up.

Following that conversation, Vicky Cornell called Kirsten to check on her husband. Despite having the key to Cornell’s room, Kirsten couldn’t open the door because it was latched. Kirsten then called hotel security, who told the bodyguard that they could not let him in the room because he wasn’t authorized [sic] to enter it.

Despite security’s refusal to assist, Kirsten then kicked open Cornell’s hotel door. The bedroom door was also latched, so the bodyguard again called hotel security before ultimately kicking open that door. Upon inspecting the bathroom, Kirsten found Cornell “laying on the bathroom floor” with blood running down his mouth and a red exercise band around his neck.

According to TMZ, Cornell fastened the band to a carabiner that had been lodged into the doorframe, leaving indentation marks.

Just before 1 a.m., paramedics entered Cornell’s room, removed the band from his neck and attempted CPR on the singer, who was not breathing. A doctor who later came to the scene pronounced Cornell dead at 1:30 a.m.

It’s important to note that bit about the Ativan and the slurred speech during the phone call, because his wife Vicky believes this is what led to the singer taking his own life.

From a second Rolling Stone article:

“Chris’s death is a loss that escapes words and has created an emptiness in my heart that will never be filled. As everyone who knew him commented, Chris was a devoted father and husband. He was my best friend,” Vicky wrote [in a statement on Friday]…

“When we spoke after the show, I noticed he was slurring his words; he was different. When he told me he may have taken an extra Ativan or two, I contacted security and asked that they check on him,” she continued. “What happened is inexplicable and I am hopeful that further medical reports will provide additional details. I know that he loved our children and he would not hurt them by intentionally taking his own life.”

An attorney for the Cornell family, Kirk Pasich, reiterated Vicky’s belief that an extra dosage of Ativan, an anxiety medication often employed by recovering addicts, altered Chris Cornell’s mental faculties after the Detroit show. Pasich added that the Cornell family is “disturbed at inferences that Chris knowingly and intentionally took his life.”

…Pasich added that side effects of Ativan include “paranoid or suicidal thoughts, slurred speech and impaired judgment”; Vicky Cornell noted her husband’s slurred speech following the Detroit concert in her statement.

Another example of the need to exercise caution when taking medication.

We’ll bow out with 10 Unforgettable Chris Cornell Moments:

[sources:rollingstone&rollingstone]