Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam, formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990, emerged as a key band in the grunge movement. The original lineup included guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready, bassist Jeff Ament, and vocalist Eddie Vedder, with a rotating roster of drummers in its early years before Matt Cameron joined in 1998. The band’s debut album, “Ten,” released in 1991, achieved commercial success, remaining on the US Billboard 200 chart for nearly five years and eventually going 13x platinum. This album featured hit singles “Alive,” “Even Flow,” and “Jeremy.” In 1992, Pearl Jam made televised appearances on “Saturday Night Live” and “MTV Unplugged,” and toured with Lollapalooza. The band contributed two songs, “State of Love and Trust” and “Breath,” to the soundtrack of the 1992 film “Singles.”

The band’s second album, “Vs.,” released in 1993, set a record by selling over 950,000 copies in its first week. Their third album, “Vitalogy” (1994), was the second-fastest-selling CD at the time, moving more than 877,000 units in its initial week. Pearl Jam became known for their aversion to conventional music industry practices, such as producing music videos for many singles and engaging in extensive interviews. A significant milestone was their unsuccessful 1994 lawsuit against Ticketmaster, challenging alleged monopolistic practices in the concert-ticket market. This led to the band largely boycotting Ticketmaster venues for three years. In 1995, Pearl Jam collaborated with Neil Young on his album “Mirror Ball” and released the EP “Merkin Ball.” In 2006, Rolling Stone highlighted their deliberate efforts to manage their fame, noting how they “spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame.”

Pearl Jam continued to release albums, including “No Code” (1996), “Yield” (1998), “Binaural” (2000), and “Riot Act” (2002), expanding their musical range to incorporate elements of experimental, folk, and art rock. In 2000, tragedy struck during their European tour at the Roskilde Festival, where nine fans died in a crowd crush. Following this, the band implemented an official bootleg program, professionally recording and releasing every concert to fans. In 2006, Pearl Jam released their self-titled album and signed with J Records, a shift for the group. They continued touring globally and released “Backspacer” (2009), which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts. The band celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2011 with reissues of earlier albums and a documentary. More recently, Pearl Jam released “Lightning Bolt” (2013), which earned a Grammy for Best Recording Package, “Gigaton” (2020), and “Dark Matter” (2024), receiving Grammy nominations for the latter. In 2017, Pearl Jam was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Matt Cameron departed from the band on July 7, 2025, after 27 years.