The surviving members of Soundgarden have dropped counterclaims against the widow of late frontman Chris Cornell regarding a benefit concert organized as a tribute to him amid threats of sanctions. In December 2019, Vicky Cornell sued Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Hunter Benedict Shepherd, claiming that the remaining members of Soundgarden are withholding hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties owed to her and Chris’ minor children. She called it an “unlawful attempt to strong-arm Chris’ Estate into turning over certain audio recordings created by Chris before he passed away.” However, Soundgarden later filed a countersuit against Vicky Cornell, alleging that she used cash from a charity concert for personal gain. The band members alleged that Vicky Cornell used funds intended for charity for “personal purposes for herself and her family” after performing last year’s I Am the Highway: A Tribute to Chris Cornell concert. They claimed that they had an “oral agreement” with Vicky Cornell to perform for free and are said to have agreed that the proceeds from the show would go to The Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation. “When we threatened Soundgarden with the undisputed facts that their claims concerning Vicky Cornell and the Cornell Charitable Foundation were disgraceful and fabricated by requesting the court sanction them for their appalling conduct, they caved in and agreed to drop their claims,” Cornell’s attorney Martin Singer told The Hollywood Reporter. He added, “We were looking forward to having the court make Soundgarden and their attorneys accountable for their shameful conduct, but they instead backed off their meritless claims since they knew they would lose the Rule 11 motion, which is used in court to punish and deter parties and their attorneys from pursuing objectively frivolous claims.” Copyright(c) 2020 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved