Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam was one of the big names in the alternative rock music scene in the 1990’s along with Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots. Unlike those bands however, Pearl Jam stayed long in the industry and became notable for their rejection in observing accepted music norms that time such as their refusal to create MTV’s for their singles and their renowned protest against Ticketmaster. Sales records as of December 2006 show that the group has sold more than 31 million records in the United States.

Originally, Pearl Jam had Eddie Vedder as lead vocalist, Jeff Ament as bass guitarist, Stone Gosard as rhythm guitarist, Mike McCready in lead guitarist and Dave Krusen in drums. At present, the group’s drummer is Matt Cameron who in turn was a former member of another dissolved grunge rock band, Soundgarden.

The band was formerly named “Mookie Blaylock” after the former NBA player but had to change its name due to possible trademark issues. It was in March 10, 1991 that the group settled with “Pearl Jam.” Among the cited reasons for the choice include a reference to Vedder’s great-grandmother Pearl and her recipe for peyote-laced jam, and that one of the band members wanted “pearl” in their group’s name with jamming as something common among bands.

With its debut album, “Ten,” (named after Mookie Blaylock’s number,) Pearl Jam was on its way to success. Sales were slow after its release on August 27, 1991 until the latter half of 1992 saw the breakout for the band. The album carries the singles, “Even Flow”, “Alive”, “Jeremy” and “Black” and was a mainstay of the Billboard charts for more than 2 years. Currently, “Ten” has already gone 12x platinum and has been considered one of the biggest-selling rock records since.

Pearl Jam’s success continued with the release of its next two albums. Their second album entitled “Vs.”, sold less than a million copies in the first week of its release alone and currently has been certified 7x platinum. Singles in the album include “Daughter”, “Dissident”, “Go”, “Rearviewmirror” and “Animal.” Their third album “Vitalogy” was released on November 22, 1994 and featured the singles, “Spin the Black Circle”, “Not for You”, “Corduroy”, “Immortality” and “Better Man.” “Spin the Black Circle” in particular, earned a Grammy Award for the Best Hard Rock Performance in 1996. The album itself sold less than 900,000 copies in its first week and is at present certified 5x platinum.

Other important Pearl Jam albums include “No Code” (1996), “Yield” (1998), “Binaural” (2000), “Riot Act” (2002) and “Pearl Jam” (2006). Pearl Jam has also won several American Music Awards and MTV Video Music Awards and to this day continues with their recording and tours. While the group started being criticized as “being a corporate cash-in on the alternative rock explosion,” it now garners critical acclaim for its music.