Pearl Jam Biography

The biography for this week will be about PEARL JAM! This band was one of the original alternative bands, but they are also still performing. That makes them both a founding band and a current band. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to write a biography on an original or a current band so I picked one that was a part of both. Anyways, on to the biography!

Pearl Jam Biography:

Pearl Jam originated in Seattle in the early Nineties. Along with Nirvana, they are recognized as popularizing grunge-style music. Pearl Jam sold more than FIFTEEN MILLION copies of their first two albums. The members of the band changed drastically over the first couple of years, especially after Andrew Wood (singer) died of a drug overdose. In 1990, a memorial to Wood, Temple of the Dog, was performed by Gossard, Ament, McCready, and Chris Cornell. The memorial album made Number Five in 1992. After several other changes in membership, Pearl Jam was signed on by Epic Records in early 1991. They toured extensively and opened for bands at concerts such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young, and U2. Vedder was the lead singer, and he poured his personal emotions into the lyrics which increased the quality of their music. Their songs are easy to relate to because of this. Since Pearl Jam became popular almost overnight, the band members had a hard time adjusting to their newfound fame. They finally sorted it out around 1998 (it took a little while, but they got there). In September of 2000, they made history by self-releasing TWENTY-FIVE LIVE ALBUMS IN ONE WEEK. Five of these entered the Billboard 200 immediately. They released several more hit albums before their contract timed out. Pearl Jam eventually signed on with J Records in 2006. Their first album that they published with J Records was their self-titled album. Pearl Jam is still recording new music and releasing new albums. My personal favorite single by them at the moment is “Sirens”. I need to buy it!