“Say Hello 2 Heaven” by Temple of the Dog

"Say Hello 2 Heaven" is where Temple of the Dog began: Chris Cornell's farewell to his roommate Andrew Wood, the Mother Love Bone singer who had just died of a heroin overdose. It became the second single from the group's only album, Temple of the Dog, on A&M in 1991. Cornell wrote it, along with "Reach Down", while touring Europe with Soundgarden, grieving with nobody around who had loved Wood. Back home he took both songs to Wood's old bandmates Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard, planning a one-off single; instead a whole band and a whole album grew out of it.

Rick Parashar produced it with the group, and it plays like a slow, aching wake, Cornell's voice climbing from a murmur to a howl that rattles the rafters. It reached number five on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.