Paris based American publicist, Vicky Karayiannis rose to stardom after marrying the late musician, Chris Cornell. Moreover, Vicky Karayiannis is also a philanthropist. She got even more media attention after her husband Cornell committed suicide in 2017.
Age And Career Of Vicky Karayiannis
Vicky Karayiannis was born on August 13, 1987, in the United States, under the birth sign Leo. As far as her nationality is concerned, she is an American and belongs to the white ethnicity. He was born to mother Toni Karayiannis and grew up along with her brother, Nicholas Karayiannis.
Her brother Nicholas, also known as “DJ Nick Blast,” is an executive at a restaurant in New York. Vicky follows conservative Greek values because her parents also belonged to Greek roots. Her ancestors likewise were in the music field.
Talking about her career, she is a publicist and a philanthropist. Further, Karayiannis along with her late husband created the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation in 2012. The organization helps to raise awareness and support the children who are experiencing homelessness, abuse, and poverty.
She is still actively working for the foundation even after her husband and the founding member Cornell's death. Moreover, sources reported Karayiannis wants to carry on the good cause that Karayiannis and her late husband started together.
Vicky Karayiannis’ Net Worth
Vicky Karayiannis has worked as a publicist and philanthropist for years and might have earned an impressive sum of money from her career as a publicist, however, there is no information about her income and net worth.
On the other hand, her late husband Chris Cornell had an estimated net worth of $60 million at the time of his death. Further, Karayiannis and her then-husband bought a house in Beverly Hills, Calif. for $5.4 million. The house was initially owned by the rockstar, however, it was given to Karayiannis after his death.
After Cornell's death, Karayiannis donated $100,000 to the Seattle based non-profit organization Childhaven which established the Chris Cornell Music Therapy Program on occasion of the musician's 53rd birthday.
Vicky Karayiannis’ Personal Life
Vicky Karayiannis was married to Chris Cornell, an American musician, singer, and songwriter. They first met at Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris on January 2003, when Vicky attended the after-show party of the rock group Audioslave.
They again met in London where the couple ended up as an item. Later, he proposed to his lady love to be his wife with a silver ring at Beverly Hills Hotel, West Hollywood. The couple tied the knot in 2004 at Paris. The couple had two children; Toni Cornell, born in September 2004, and Christopher Nicholas Cornell, born in December 2005, in their 13 years long conjugal life.
The couple had been together until Chris's death on May 18, 2017, at the age of 52.
Previously, Chris was married to music manager Susan Silver from 1990 to 2004. Silver also has a daughter, Lillian Jean Cornell born on June 28, 2000, with her ex-husband, Cornell.
Vicky Karayiannis’ Husband Chris Cornell's Death Legacy
Rock legend Chris was found dead in the bathroom of his hotel MGM Grand room on May 18, 2017. At the time of his death, he had been on a musical tour.
The Wayne County medical examiner's office confirmed Cornell wasn't died due to any drug-related issues and tagged his death as a suicide by hanging.
According to the reports, Cornell's wife Karayiannis contacted her insurance lawyer, Kirk Pasich in order to handle publicity soon after she heard her husband's death news. Later Pasich, on behalf of Vicky Karayiannis blamed a drug band, ‘Ativan’ for Chris' death.
On July 11, 2017, the Detroit police revealed the final report on the singer's death which revealed Vicky was the last person to talk to Chris before his death. As it was reported previously, she had talked to him over the phone the previous night of his death.
Vicky also said that her husband did not sound ok to her on phone. She also claimed his speech was unclear and was saying he was just tired repeatedly. After their conversation, she immediately contacted Chris’ bodyguard to check on him. After that, he was found unconscious in his hotel room and was pronounced dead at around 1:30 am. Days after his death, police revealed the singer's death scene in some pictures in the media.
Vicky took some months to recover from the great loss. Later on, she blamed her husband's doctor, Dr. Robert Koblin, for his death. Meanwhile, in November 2018, she and her children filed a case in 'Los Angeles Superior Court' against Dr. Koblin. In the court papers, she claimed that the doctor had prescribed the drug for his shoulder pain which she claimed was the major cause of his death. Vicky believed the doctor shouldn't have prescribed that drug.
Moreover, she rejected the post mortem report that suggested Cornell died due to suicide. She accused the doctor of "negligently and repeatedly" prescribing "dangerous mind-altering controlled substances” to him.
The lawsuit also claimed Dr. Koblin had been recommending lorazepam, a benzodiazepine medication to Chris for nearly 20 months without checking his health status.
Later in an interview with Good Morning America, Vicky told that the late singer had a problem with his torn shoulder and was unable to sleep well due to the severe pain.
She later did some research about the prescribed medication and found that the drug dosage was not supposed to be continued for more than two weeks. Additionally, she found that the consumption of the drug should have monitored continuously.
The last investigation reports on Cornell's death stated that Chris had consumed the prescribed medication on the night of his death as well. But, a drug was not the reason for his death.
Check out the short video of Vicky Karayiannis where she opens up about her husband's addiction before his suicide.
by ab-mahima, 26 Mar, 2019
