Southern California fans – visit ChrisCornell.com for a special announcement!

Chris Cornell and his brother-in-law Nicholas Karayiannis have optioned crime writer Philip Carlo's famous book “The Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez” and are collaborating with the author to develop it as a movie script. Read more in the New York Press and Hollywood Reporter.

Chris Cornell will play a private show for the grand opening of the new Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas on October 15 2009.

The show is part of Hard Rock's Ambassadors of Rock Tour, a global concert series featuring an eclectic group of artists including Kenny Chesney in New York, O.A.R. in Orlando, Collective Soul in Biloxi, Black Eyed Peas in Japan, The Killers in Buenos Aires, The Allman Brothers Band in Hollywood, Fla. and Hard Rock Calling in London with Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young.

Although the Chris Cornell show on The Strip in Las Vegas will not be open to the public, there are two great opportunities for fans to win tickets to this exclusive event:

Spin Magazine have teamed up with Hard Rock, the Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and American Airlines to give away a trip for two to attend the celebration - you can enter HERE. The winner and his or her guest will receive round-trip airfare (in the form of 100,000 American Airlines Advantage Miles), VIP tickets to the Chris Cornell performance, a free one-year subscription to SPIN magazine, and a three-night stay in the new Paradise Tower at the Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino!

Chriscornell.com also has ten pairs of tickets (travel and accommodation not included) to give away to fans who submit their full names and contact details (valid email address and phone number) to support@chriscornell.com. Winners will be chosen at random and contacted shortly after the closing date. NB: THESE CONTESTS ARE NOW CLOSED.

For both the contests, the closing date is October 1 and winners and guests must be 21+ plus to win.

"Light On", the hit single co-written by Chris Cornell and recorded by American Idol winner David Cook, has been certified platinum by the RIAA.

Written by Cornell with producer/songwriter Brian Howes, "Light On" was picked as the lead-off single from Cook's debut album.

David Cook performed Chris Cornell's reinvention of Michael Jackson classic "Billie Jean" on "American Idol" in 2008, drawing praise from the judges before going on to win the contest.

Due to unforeseen band scheduling conflicts for September 12th, Chris Cornell will regretfully not be performing at the Sunset Strip Music Festival in Los Angeles. However, Cornell will still be attending festival sponsors Virgin America Airline's party on September 11th as planned, to meet the winners of the SSMF contests flown in by the airline. He would like to apologize to all the fans who were looking forward to seeing his performance at the festival.

Throughout his long career, Chris Cornell’s incomparable sound and instinct for innovation have conquered new territory and attracted widespread acclaim. On November 1, 2009, he hits another high when Cornell and Virgin America launch a unique partnership between an artist and a commercial airline. This will include in-flight programming, radio contests, performances and more.

Starting in October and running through the holidays, the entire Virgin American Airline fleet will feature Chris Cornell on all in-flight programming. His latest LP, Scream, has been added to the airline’s music library and will be a part of a collection that plays during boarding. Beginning in November, passengers will also be able to select various Chris Cornell music videos and albums throughout their flight.

“As a new airline with a state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment system including more than 3,000 MP3s and music videos for our guests to choose from, music is in our DNA,” said Dimitrios Papadogonas, Director of Marketing at Virgin America. “We are thrilled to partner with a music legend like Chris Cornell and to add such high caliber content to our in-flight entertainment library – the largest one in the domestic skies.”

Contests held by major radio stations in three cities (NYC, DC, Boston) will be awarding winners a trip to Los Angeles and a chance to meet Chris.

Don't forget to tune into NBC's Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien on Friday September 11 (10.35/11.35c) for a performance by Chris Cornell!

If you missed Chris Cornell's 2-part appearance on NBC's Last Call With Carson Daly back in March, there's another chance to see it tonight and tomorrow! (July 16/17).

Chris Cornell has paid tribute to Michael Jackson, who died yesterday.

Chris told NME: "I was on my way from Poland to Berlin following a show. At 1am I got the news and was immediately saddened,” he said. "I remembered being six years old and seeing the Jackson 5 on our black and white TV. His brothers were cool but he had a halo around him.

"Superstar at 12. What promise. He had magic! It was by chance that I recorded and rearranged his song 'Billie Jean' and have been amazed at the response it gets when I perform it every night. He was amazingly talented and largely misunderstood.

"I hope that the media will be kind and celebrate the genius instead of cashing in on the tabloid angles that made him a prisoner. I think he deserves that."

Read the full story and listen to Chris Cornell's cover of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" HERE.

"Cornell, a heavy-rock icon twice over, first with Soundgarden, then Audioslave, can shrug aside this negative hysteria because he knows that, actually, Scream is a pretty good record. Sure, hearing that famous molasses croon against a backdrop of caffeinated Timbaland beats takes getting used to -- but it's an album worth stepping outside your comfort zone for."

From Chris Cornell's cover feature in the Irish Independent's Day & Night - read the whole article by Ed Power HERE.