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Susan Silver is known for being the manager of several Rock bands from Seattle, most notably Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Screaming Trees. Her managing career began in 1983 with the band The U-Men, then First Thought became her client. In 1985, she started dating singer Chris Cornell, and in 1986 she became the manager of his band, Soundgarden. Silver was also managing Screaming Trees, and in 1988, she met manager Kelly Curtis, who at the time ran a production company with his friend Ken Deans. Deans managed Alice In Chains, and when Curtis got interested in working with Mother Love Bone, he decided he didn't want to manage them any more, so Silver and Curtis became Alice In Chains' co-managers.

Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic claims that it was Soundgarden's decision to sign with A&M Records - and the advice given by the latter's then-manager [Silver] - that had given his band the confidence to sign with Geffen Records. In May 1990, Sub Pop Records gave Nirvana a new contract that tightened up the label's rights considerably. Kurt Cobain didn't want to sign it: he and Novoselic asked Silver for advice and she told them they should find a lawyer. Encouraged by Silver, the group flew to L.A., secured the services of an attorney and began getting courted by major labels and the band chose Geffen Records, which released their hit album Nevermind in 1991.

Silver married Chris Cornell on September 22, 1990. The couple managed to avoid the media scrutiny, with their marriage rarely mentioned in the context of their professional relationship.

Silver retired in 1998, closing her longtime Seattle office, Susan Silver Management. In 2000, she gave birth to her first child with then-husband Chris Cornell, a girl named Lillian. Silver and Cornell divorced in 2004.

She formed a new Seattle-based management and consulting company in 2005, Atmosphere Artist Management, with Deborah Semer, former executive director of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Recording Academy. Their first client was Seattle world-music and dance group Children of the Revolution.

Silver is still Alice in Chains' manager and a close friend of the members. In 2005, Alice in Chains' drummer, Sean Kinney, came up with the idea of doing a tsunami benefit for CARE after making a donation and realizing it didn't seem to be enough. So he made calls to his former band members, as well as friends in the music community, such as Silver, and he was surprised by the enthusiastic response. Within a few months of that experience, the band called Silver and said they wanted to tour as Alice In Chains again. The band had ended after the death of lead singer Layne Staley in 2002. In 2006 they started touring the world, and in 2009 they released their first album without Staley, "Black Gives Way to Blue". The band thanked Silver in the album's liner notes.

Silver and Alice in Chains' drummer, Sean Kinney, are the owners of the club The Crocodile in Seattle since 2009.

I&#39;m sure I&#39;ve been the butt of a lot of sexist jokes, especially since I got involved with major labels, being a woman with no experience, living in Seattle, managing her boyfriend&#39;s band. It was prime material for jokes, but I didn&#39;t get in the middle of those sort of cocktail conversations or listen to that whispering. I was up here with my dream that people would care about what Seattle has to offer musically.

The hardest part of being a manager is being helpless to other people&#39;s self-destruction.

Early in my life I was inspired by the creative process. Music was definitely an important part of that. I did lots of volunteer work with large organizations and theater groups and things that involved music. I just basically started as a professional volunteer...

[on <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0821655/?ref_=nmqu_qu">Layne Staley</a>] I loved him and will always love him. He was like a brother to me. He was this little broken but gentle spirit. We did everything we could think of to help him choose life, but sadly the disease won instead.

One thing about management is it doesn&#39;t matter whether you&#39;re someone&#39;s girlfriend, wife, sister, or siamese twin. Simply put, you are as successful as your acts are. If my clients never had gold records, nobody would care. But if things go well then there&#39;s a perception that someone must have done a good job, that the artist is good, and that the manager must not be too much of an idiot. When you get a gold record, suddenly you get more respect. Likewise, if you get double platinum, suddenly people become very respectful.

[Seattle Weekly, February 2, 2010] Layne&#39;s death was such a deep, deep loss. And there&#39;s that question of, what do you do with a tragedy in life? Do we stop living? Or do we go on? Looking at the story that that record [Black Gives Way to Blue] tells, and then the beautiful love letter that Jerry [Cantrell] wrote to Layne to close the record [the title track], tells a very complete story. And it has been a really cathartic experience, and extremely healing. Extremely healing.

[Kitsap Sun, August 25, 1994] I remember this guy came up to me and said &#39;Gee, you sure don&#39;t look like a hard rock manager,&#39; and I said, &#39;I am. And you don&#39;t look like an idiot, but you are&#39;.

Quotes

Susan Silver

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