Some of the biggest names in hard rock music and beyond gathered at The Forum in Los Angeles on Wednesday night to take part in an all-star concert event in tribute to the late Chris Cornell, who took his own life almost two years ago back on May 18th, 2017. The marathon tribute event, branded as “I Am the Highway: A Tribute to Chris Cornell,” stretched out to a whopping five hours with a total of 42 songs performed throughout the evening.

Notable artists in attendance to participate in covering the sizeable Cornell catalogue on Wednesday included two of his former bands, Soundgarden and Audioslave, in addition to Metallica, The Melvins, Rita Wilson, Chris Stapleton, Foo Fighters, Nikka Costa and Alain Johannes, Josh HommeAdam Levine, Miley Cyrus, Ziggy Marley, Ryan Adams, Temple of the Dog, and even Chris’ daughter, Toni Cornell.

The night’s events began with a five-song performance from The Melvins, who closed out their mini set with a heart-pumping cover of “Spoonman” from Soundgarden’s 1994 Superunknown LP. Actress Rita Wilson was up next to perform a haunting cover of Cornell’s 2017 solo ballad, “The Promise”. She was followed by international musicians Nikka Costa and Alain Johannes, who performed “Disappearing One” off of Cornell’s 1999 Euphoria Mourning solo LP.

The Melvins – “Spoonman” (Soundgarden cover) – 1/16/2019

[Video: John Loughney]

Chris Stapleton was up next, and the country-rock singer performed another tune out of the Cornell solo songbook with an acoustic rendition of “The Keeper”, which initially appeared on the soundtrack to the 2011 film, Machine Gun Preacher.

Chris Stapleton – “The Keeper” (Chris Cornell cover) – 1/16/2019

[Video: Rick with Lopan]

The Foo Fighters then took the stage to give attendees a four-song performance comprised of covers including Soundgarden’s “No Attention” and DEVO‘s “Girl You Want”, and an acoustic version of their own famous ballad, “Everlong”. The Foo were followed by friend and Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, who delivered a one-song performance of Soundgarden’s punk-esque 1991 anthem, “Rusty Cage”. Maroon 5‘s Adam Levine and Jesse Carmichael, as well as Pearl Jam‘s Stone Gossard were up next, and the trio delivered a cover of Cornell’s 1992 solo single, “Seasons”. Miley Cyrus then came to the stage to belt out her rendition of “Two Drink Minimum”, a soulful ballad from Cornell’s 2009 Scream solo LP.

Foo Fighters – Chris Cornell Tribute Set – 1/16/2019

[Video: Mikolaj Jaroszyk]

Miley Cyrus – “Two Drink Minimum” (Chris Cornell cover) – 1/16/2019

[Video: Mikolaj Jaroszyk]

Next up was a five-song performance by the surviving members of Audioslave, Tom Morello and Brad Wilk, who gave fans a mix of renditions from their three studio albums with some help from their famous rock friends. The set included “Cochise” (with Geezer Butler and Perry Farrell), “Be Yourself” (with Butler and Juliette Lewis), “Set It Off” (with Chris Chaney, Sam Harris and Tim Mcllrath), “Like A Stone” (with Chaney and Brandi Carlile), and closing with “Show Me How To Live” (with Robert Trujillo and Dave Grohl).

Audioslave with Geezer Butler and Juliette Lewis – “Be Yourself” – 1/16/2019

[Video: Mikolaj Jaroszyk]

Audioslave with Brandi Carlile — “Like A Stone” —1/16/2019

[Video: Jeff Nash]

The next part of the show, and maybe the night’s emotional climax, came next with Brad Pitt introducing Cornell’s daughter Toni, and reggae artist Ziggy Marley, who shared a lovely duet cover of Bob Marley & The Wailers‘ 1980 ballad, “Redemption Song”.

Ziggy Marley and Toni Cornell – “Redemption Song” (Bob Marley cover) – 1/16/2019

[Video: Mikolaj Jaroszyk]

The night continued with the beer-loving fellas of Metallica taking the stage, with an introduction by Jack Black, to perform a pair of originals to go with two Soundgarden covers, including “All Your Lies” and “Head Injury”. The two originals played by the famous thrash metal band included “For Whom The Bell Tolls” and the always energizing “Master of Puppets”. They were followed by

Metallica – “All Your Lies” (Soundgarden cover) – 1/16/2019

[Video: Courtney Timmerwilke]

Rock singer/guitarist Ryan Adams then came out to join in on the fun with help from Wolf Bros bassist Don Was and a small chamber orchestra. The rocker gave fans his own spin on Cornell’s “Dead Wishes” and Soundgarden’s “Fell On Black Days”.

Next up was one of the lengthier sets of the night from Cornell’s former supergroup, Temple Of The Dog. Surviving members were joined throughout their seven-song performance by an impressive list of guest sit-ins from veteran rock drummer Josh FreeseFiona Apple, producer Brendan O’Brien, pop-R&B singer Miguel, Stapleton, Cyrus, and Brandi Carlile, just to name a few. Their setlist included “Preaching The End Of The World”, “Can’t Change Me” (with Alain Johannes, Eric Avery, and Freese), “Hunted Down” (with William DuVall, Jerry Cantrell, and Freese), “All Night Thing” (with Fiona Apple, Brendan O’Brien, David Garza, and Matt Chamberlain), “Reach Down” (with Miguel, Nikka Costa, and O’Brien), “Say Hello 2 Heaven” (with Cyrus, O’Brien, and Josh Freese), and “Hunger Strike”.

Ryan Adams – “Dead Wishes” (Chris Cornell cover) – 1/16/2019

[Video: mano1971music]

Temple of the Dog – “Hunger Strike” – 1/16/2019

[Video: John Loughney]

The performance would come to a thrilling end with Soundgarden coming to the stage to deliver an eight-song headlining set with a rotating cast of musicians coming in to help sing Cornell’s lyrics. They were joined throughout the performance by Taylor Momsen, Zen Guerrilla‘s Marcus Durant, The Melvins’ Buzz Osbourne, Audioslave’s Tom Morello, Foo Fighters’ drummer Taylor Hawkins, Peter Frampton, and more. Their own set included “Rusty Cage” (with Momsen), “Flower” (with Durant), “Outshined” (with Durant and Gossard), “Drawing Flies” (with Momsen, Osbourne, Matt Demeritt, and Tracy Wanamae), “Loud Love” (with Momsen, Morello, and Wayne Kramer), “I Awake” (with Hawkins and Osbourne), “The Day I Tried To Live” (with Hawkins and Osbourne), and closing out with maybe Cornell’s most famous grunge-era power ballad, “Black Hole Sun” (with Brandi Carlile, Frampton, Tim Hanseroth, and Phil Hanseroth) followed by a thrilling improv-based jam.

Brandi Carlile with Soundgarden — “Black Hole Sun” — 1/16/2019

[Video: GotsomePearlJam]

Soundgarden – Metaphysical Outro/Improv Jam – 1/16/2019

[Video: Mikolaj Jaroszyk]

Chris Cornell, you are missed.

[H/T Consequence of Sound]