Cornell was born in Seattle to Ed Boyle and Karen Cornell. He is of English, French, German, Irish, Manx, Northern Irish, Norwegian, Scottish, Swiss, and Welsh. Cornell was first married to Susan Silver, the manager of Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. They had a daughter, Lillian Jean, in June 2000. He and Silver divorced in 2004. In December 2008, Cornell said that he had finally won back his collection of 15 guitars after a four-year court battle with Silver.