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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.
