Watch: Serj Tankian, Taylor Momsen and more perform Soundgarden tributes

Soundgarden and Chris Cornell were given a massive salute at Tom Morello’s Power to the People festival in Columbia, Maryland, with a bunch of rock heavyweights joining forces for a stack of covers.

The biggest tribute came from ‘Suns of Soundgarden’, a one-off supergroup featuring Taylor Momsen on vocals, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready and Morello on guitar, Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron and Robbie Mangano on bass.

Not exactly your local pub covers band.

Making their live debut, the group tore through three Soundgarden classics: ‘Loud Love’, ‘Outshined’ and ‘Spoonman’.

Suns of Soundgarden, Outshined:

Before they kicked off, Morello explained just how much influence Soundgarden had on the artists gathered for the festival.

“Soundgarden redeemed hard rock and metal music by unapologetically embracing thunderous riffs and melding them with deep, dark, soul-searching poetry that opened the door for generations of artists who felt empowered to use their brains along with their musical brawn,” he said.

“They were a huge influence on many of the artists playing today.”

Suns of Soundgarden, Spoonman:

Later, Morello kept the tribute going during his own set when System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian joined him for Audioslave’s ‘Like A Stone’, dedicating the performance to late Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell.

Serj Tankian and Tom Morello, Like A Stone:

The tributes were part of Morello’s one-day Power to the People festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion, which brought together a ridiculous lineup including Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl, Dave Matthews, Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, Jack Black and Geezer Butler.

Plenty happened across the day, including Bruce Springsteen headlining the whole thing, but for Soundgarden fans, this was a bloody special one.