

Gossard, Ament, McCready, Vedder, and drummer Dave Krusen decided to rename their new band “ Pearl Jam,” recorded their debut LP, Ten (1991), and went on to become one of the biggest rock acts of their generation. Cornell and Cameron went back into the studio to record their third (and arguably their best) studio album Badmotorfinger (1991). The album would initially fail to reach the Billboard album charts, and the musicians returned to business as usual. “Hunger Strike” would go on to become the album’s biggest hit, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Rock charts. Cornell liked the sound of this shy newcomer’s voice, and his passionate original “Hunger Strike” was eventually recorded as a vocal duet between him and Vedder for the album. A young vocalist named Eddie Vedder had flown up to Seattle from San Diego to audition and ended up adding some backing vocals to a few tracks. The outfit adopted the name Temple of the Dog, a nod to the lyrics of Mother Love Bone song “Man of Golden Words.” They recorded a singe, self-titled album, featuring a pair of songs written by Cornell while he was grieving Wood’s loss (“Reach Down” and “Say Hello 2 Heaven”), a handful of tunes written by Cornell prior to Wood’s death, and some re-worked demos from Gossard, Ament, and Cameron.Īt the time of the 15-day-long sessions for Temple of the Dog, Ament, Gossard, and McCready were in the process of finding a vocalist for their new band, set to be dubbed Mookie Blaylock. He recruited his Soundgarden bandmate Matt Cameron and former Mother Love Bone members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, who in turn recruited guitarist Mike McCready, with whom they were starting a new band. In 1991, following the overdose death of his then-roommate Andrew Wood, lead singer of burgeoning Seattle rock band Mother Love Bone, Cornell set out to record a tribute to his fallen musical brother. While Soundgarden was the platform that made him a household name within the Seattle rock scene in the ’90s, some of his most notable work came with other collaborative projects. Cornell’s tragic passing came as the singer was in the thick of a reunion tour with his original band. On May 18th, 2017, the music world was stunned by the suicide of Chris Cornell, singer, songwriter and guitarist for seminal grunge act, Soundgarden.
