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About Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam

They were once called Mookie Blaylock but due to trademark restrictions (Blaylock was a prominent NBA basketball player at the time) the Seattle grunge band decided to go with the name Pearl Jam.

Pearl Jam released its debut album, Ten, in 1991. Albums sales began slowly but by the second half of 1992 Pearl Jam was a household name. Ten, which features the hit songs "Alive," "Even Flow," and "Jeremy," went on to be certified 13x Platinum and is widely regarded as one of rock's greatest albums.

Due to their success, critics, including Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, derided the band as sellouts. However, the band soon proved to everyone that they were anything but sellouts by refusing to make music videos, espousing liberal politics, and being extremely fan- friendly.

Pearl Jam consists of diminutive but big voiced Eddie Vedder, lead guitarist Mike McCready, bassist Jeff Ament, rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard, and drummer Matt Cameron (the band's fifth). They are not only highly successful recording artists but also a fantastic and energetic live band.

Early on in their career their penchant for touring was negatively affected by a battle with Ticketmaster. For about three years Pearl Jam refused to conduct business with the ticketing company. This decision not only cost them a drummer, but also forced them to play in obscure and impersonal venues. Pearl Jam ended their Ticketmaster boycott in 1998 claiming a business relationship with the company would benefit their fans.

Pearl Jam recorded every show of their 2000 Binaural Tour and released each as a live album. This was done to satisfy their fans' desire for cheaper bootleg recordings (Pearl Jam allowed amateur recordings of their concerts but they were usually sold by bootleggers for exorbitant amounts). In total, the band released 72 live albums from 2000 to 2001.

The band's highest charting single was 1998's "Last Kiss." The song was made famous in 1960 by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers. Pearl Jam originally recorded the song as a sound check and released it to their fan club members for Christmas. It became so popular that the band was forced to release it as a single in 1999.

On June 30, 2000 nine fans died while Pearl Jam took the stage at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. Fans were crushed to death by a crowd rushing towards the stage. Pearl Jam was initially blamed for the accident and several members contemplated retirement over the tragedy. The band was later cleared of any wrong-doing or fault.

By 2010, Pearl Jam had released nine studio albums and sold more than 60 million units worldwide. They've been labeled by many rock critics as the band of decade for the 1990's.

Pearl Jam History
Pearl Jam was born from the bosom of Mother Love Bone. With the death of Mother Love Bone frontman Andy Wood and the disintegration of the band, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament set out to create their next band. They recruited guitarist Mike McCready and, with the help of Matt Cameron on drums, recorded a 3 song demo tape. This tape made it to ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons, who passed it on to Eddie Vedder during one of their hiking trips. Eddie listened to the tape shortly before going surfing. While he was out in the water, the music played in his head and the lyrics came to him. He rushed back home and in one flurry of creativity recorded the vocals to three songs (Alive, Footsteps, and Once). The songs were what Eddie would later describe as a mini-opera. They formed a story of incest, madness, and murder that became known to fans as the "Mamasan trilogy". He sent the tape with his vocals back to the band and they were so impressed that they had Vedder fly to Seattle to try out for the band. Eddie and the band hit it off and, with the addition of Dave Krusen on drums, Mookie Blaylock was formed. After being signed to Epic, there was some concern from record executives about the band being named after a professional basketball player who was still playing, so the band brainstormed on new names. After briefly considering Reenk Roink, they settled on Pearl Jam.

The band came up with their peculiar name while congregated at B&O Espresso, a Seattle coffeehouse. Eddie Vedder has claimed that the name Pearl Jam is an inside joke having to do with a hallucinogenic, peyote-laced jam that Eddie's grandmother Pearl was known for. Many people, however, consider that story to be nothing more than a joke. These people point out that it is probably not a coincidence that the phrase "pearl jam" had been in usage for some time as a euphemism for semen.