Taylor Momsen Opens Up About Depression And Addiction After Losing Chris Cornell And Kato Khandwala

The Pretty Reckless frontwoman Taylor Momsen has opened up about the darkest period of her life, detailing the severe depression and substance abuse that followed the deaths of her idol, Chris Cornell, and her longtime producer, Kato Khandwala.

Speaking on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Momsen described the devastating impact of losing both men in quick succession. Cornell died in 2017, and Khandwala died in a motorcycle accident less than a year later.

“That was the nail in the coffin for me,” Momsen told host Alex Cooper. “It was a giant one-two punch because they were not that far apart from each other. I just went off the rails, I didn’t handle that well. I got very heavy into substance abuse and this cloud of depression that I couldn’t shake.”

Momsen admitted she “had given up,” shutting out her support system and isolating herself in a “cloud of shame.” The situation became so dire that music, her main love, became a source of pain. She couldn’t listen to Soundgarden due to the grief over Cornell, and she couldn’t listen to The Beatles because they reminded her of Khandwala.

The spiral forced Momsen to a critical turning point.

“I had to make a very conscious choice at a point where I was either going to live or I was going to die,” she shared. “I had to either stop everything I was doing and get my life together, or this was going to kill me. I luckily chose to move forward but it was that serious.”

The path to recovery was slow and began with time. “Eventually I got to a place where I could start listening to records again,” she said. She described a methodical process of rebuilding her relationship with the art form that had saved her life.

“I very calculatedly went, ‘Where did I fall in love with this? How do I find myself again?’ So I started at the very beginning, which was The Beatles,” Momsen explained.

After working her way back through the bands she loved, she was finally able to find peace in listening to Soundgarden again. This creative and emotional rebirth led directly to The Pretty Reckless‘ fourth album, Death By Rock and Roll.

“At the end of the day, [Death By Rock and Roll] is very hopeful. It starts off very dark and bleak but there’s this positive turn toward the end of it that there is light at the end of this tunnel that seems impossible and never-ending,” she reasoned.

She offered advice for others in a similar place, acknowledging how difficult it is to hear. “If you can just wait it out, you will get to the other side… It does get better. And the f**ked up thing about that is when people say that to you and you’re in it, you want to punch them in the face.”

Now on the other side, Momsen and The Pretty Reckless are set to tour with AC/DC in 2026 and have released new music, including a Christmas EP and the single “For I Am Death.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health or substance abuse, help is available. You can contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) by dialing 1-800-622-HELP (1-800-622-4357).