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"Black Hole Sun"
Single by Soundgarden
from the album Superunknown
B-side(s)	"My Wave"
Released	1994
Recorded	1993
Genre	Grunge
Length	5:18
Label	A&M
Writer(s)	Chris Cornell
Producer(s)	Michael Beinhorn, Soundgarden
Chart positions
#1 (US Mainstream Rock Tracks) #2 (US Modern Rock Tracks) #4 (Latvia) #7 (Ireland) #9 (US Top 40 Mainstream) #12 (UK)
Soundgarden singles chronology
"Spoonman" (1994)	"Black Hole Sun" (1994)	"Fell on Black Days" (1994)

Black Hole Sun is a song by Seattle grunge band Soundgarden. It originally appeared on their 1994 album Superunknown and was the second single released from it (the previous single being "Spoonman"). It would later appear on the band's greatest hits album A-Sides. It is arguably the band's most recognizable and most popular song. In 1995 it won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance.

Released as a single in the summer of 1994, the song's success came shortly after the death of grunge icon Kurt Cobain.

The surreal music video that accompanied the song contained scenes that possibly reference the British TV series Doctor Who. Others assert that some scenes reference the films of David Lynch. As in the case of its radio airplay, the video was aired regularly on MTV. In 1995 it received the Clio Award for Alternative Music Video.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Clear Channel included the song on its list of possibly inappropriate songs.

"Black Hole Sun" has been covered by Judith Owen (mainly in 5/4 time, in a dramatic break with the original), Paul Anka, Mimi Goese, Incubus, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé, Cibo Matto, jazz pianist Brad Mehldau, The Moog Cookbook, Alanis Morissette, Copeland, Peter Frampton, Handsome Hank And His Lonesome Boys as well as by former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell on his Euphoria Morning tour and by Cornell's former band, Audioslave, on their Out of Exile tour and during their Live 8 performance.

It was also featured in a polka medley by "Weird Al" Yankovic. Bob Rivers parodied the song called "A** Hole Son", and it is occasionally missattributed to Weird Al.

Chris Cornell has stated that the lyrics have no meaning, that he thought the lyrics "sounded cool". Many fans seem to dispute this; a situation that is similar to Phil Collins' lyrics for In the Air Tonight and the many fan theories about their origin. It is noted that, like "Soundgarden", "Black Hole Sun" is the title of a sculpture in Seattle, located in Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill. Popular fan theories about the song's meaning include drug references and tributes to Kurt Cobain and John Lennon.

Radio Promo CD

1. Black Hole Sun
2. Black Hole Sun (Edit)

European/German CD #1

1. Black Hole Sun
2. Like Suicide (Acoustic)
3. Kickstand (Live)

European CD #2

1. Black Hole Sun
2. Jesus Christ Pose (Live)
3. My Wave (Live)
4. Spoonman (Steve Fisk Remix)

UK Box Set

1. Black Hole Sun
2. Beyond The Wheel (Live)
3. Fell On Black Days (Live)
4. Birth Ritual (Demo)

Australian/German CD #2

1. Black Hole Sun
2. Jesus Christ Pose (Live)
3. Beyond The Wheel (Live)

Promo CD

1. Black Hole Sun
2. Beyond The Wheel (Live)
3. Spoonman (Steve Fisk Remix)

UK Picture 7", Cassette Single

1. Black Hole Sun
2. My Wave (Live)
3. Beyond The Wheel (Live)

French Promo 12"

1. Black Hole Sun

Jukebox 7"

1. Black Hole Sun
2. Spoonman

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1995	Black Hole Sun	Official Irish Singles Chart	No. 7
1994	Black Hole Sun	Official UK Singles Chart	No. 12
1994	Black Hole Sun	Official German Singles Chart	No. 26
1994	Black Hole Sun	Mainstream Rock Tracks (US)	No. 1
1994	Black Hole Sun	Modern Rock Tracks (US)	No. 2
1994	Black Hole Sun	Top 40 Mainstream (US)	No. 9
1994	Black Hole Sun	Canadian National Airplay Charts	No. 3

• All Music Guide review

Soundgarden
Chris Cornell | Kim Thayil | Matt Cameron | Ben Shepherd
Scott Sundquist | Hiro Yamamoto | Jason Everman
Discography
Studio albums Ultramega OK | Louder than Love | Badmotorfinger | Superunknown | Down on the Upside
EPs: Screaming Life | Fopp | Loudest Love | Songs from the Superunknown
Compilations: Screaming Life/Fopp | A-Sides
Singles: "Hunted Down" | "Flower" | "Loud Love" | "Hands All Over" | "Room a Thousand Years Wide" | "Jesus Christ Pose" | "Outshined" | "Rusty Cage" | "Spoonman" | "Black Hole Sun" | "Fell on Black Days" | "My Wave" | "The Day I Tried to Live" | "Superunknown" | "Pretty Noose" | "Burden in My Hand" | "Blow Up the Outside World" | "Ty Cobb" | "Bleed Together"
Related Articles
Temple of the Dog | Singles | Grunge music | Audioslave | Pearl Jam | Alice Mudgarden | Hater | Wellwater Conspiracy
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