Chris Cornell To Receive Posthumous Human Rights Award Presented By Serj Tankian

It has been announced that the late Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell will be the first to receive a new human rights award. The singer – who died in May – will be honoured with the first ever Promise Award by the good people at the Los Angeles Committee of Human Rights Watch tomorrow, during the annual Voices for Justice Human Rights Watch Annual Dinner at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in LA. 

System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian will present the award, which recognises Cornell’s song The Promise, which was the title track to the first major film about the Armenian Genocide. 

Check out the trailer here:

Committee director Justin Connolly said: “We are proud to name this award after ‘The Promise,’ and present the inaugural award to Chris Cornell’s inspiring song.” Cornell donated all profits from the song to the International Rescue Committee.

Speaking in April, Cornell told Billboard, “I think it’s weird, period, just being a musician or a songwriter or celebrity and getting involved in any kind of cause that can be referred to as a cause celebre. You’re always walking this line of, is this convenient to me or am I actually doing some good in the world? And the point always is to do some good in the world, so that was an easy decision. I think it probably started before one word of the script was written, which was: This is not a vehicle for commerce from any angle.”