Temple of the Dog was an American rock supergroup that formed in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, in 1990. It was conceived by vocalist

Chris Cornell Christopher John Cornell (né Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American singer and musician best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary lyricist and songwriter for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave ...

of Soundgarden as a tribute to his friend, the late Andrew Wood, lead singer of the bands

Malfunkshun Malfunkshun is an alternative rock band formed in 1980 by Andrew Wood and his brother Kevin Wood. The band formed around the same time as other Washington state bands such as The U-Men (1980), Melvins (1983), Green River (1984), Soundgarden ...

and Mother Love Bone. The lineup included

Stone Gossard Stone Carpenter Gossard (born July 20, 1966) is an American musician who serves as a guitarist and songwriter for the rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of the band. ...

on rhythm guitar,

Jeff Ament Jeffrey Allen Ament (born March 10, 1963) is an American musician and songwriter who is best known as the bassist of the American rock band Pearl Jam, which he co-founded alongside Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder. Prior to his wo ...

on bass guitar (both ex-members of Mother Love Bone and later

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, g ...

Mike McCready Michael David McCready (born April 5, 1966) is an American musician who serves as the lead guitarist for the rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of the band. McCready ...

(later Pearl Jam) on lead guitar, and

Matt Cameron Matthew David Cameron (born November 28, 1962) is an American musician who is the drummer for the rock band Pearl Jam. He first gained fame as the drummer for Seattle-based rock band Soundgarden, which he joined in 1986. He appeared on each o ...

(Soundgarden and later Pearl Jam) on drums.

Eddie Vedder Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and one of four guitarists of the rock band Pearl Jam. He also appeared as a guest vocalist i ...

appeared as a guest to provide some lead and backing vocals.

's debut album, ''Ten'', was released four months after Temple of the Dog's only studio album. The band released its only album, the self-titled '' Temple of the Dog'', in April 1991 through

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

. The recording sessions took place in November and December 1990 at London Bridge Studio in Seattle, Washington, with producer Rakesh "Rick" Parashar. Although earning praise from music critics at the time of its release, the album was not widely recognized until 1992, when Vedder, Ament, Gossard, and McCready had their breakthrough with Pearl Jam. Cameron would later join Pearl Jam, serving as drummer since 1998, following Soundgarden's initial break-up in 1997, making the five members of Pearl Jam after that point identical to the members of Temple of the Dog other than Chris Cornell. The band reformed and toured in 2016 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their self-titled album. It was the only tour they ever undertook.

History

Formation

Temple of the Dog was started by Soundgarden frontman

, who had been a roommate of Andrew Wood, the lead singer of

and Mother Love Bone.Turman, Katherine. "Life Rules." ''

RIP Rest in peace (RIP), a phrase from the Latin (), is sometimes used in traditional Christian services and prayers, such as in the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, and Methodist denominations, to wish the soul of a decedent eternal rest and peace. ...

''. October 1991 Wood died on March 19, 1990, of a heroin overdose, the day Cornell got back from a tour. As he went on to tour Europe a few days later, he started writing songs in tribute to his late friend. The result was two songs, "Reach Down" and "

Say Hello 2 Heaven "Say Hello 2 Heaven" is a song by the American rock band Temple of the Dog. Written by vocalist Chris Cornell, "Say Hello 2 Heaven" was released on June 18, 1991 as the second single from the band's sole studio album, ''Temple of the Dog'' (1991). ...

", which he recorded as soon as he returned home from touring. The recorded material was slow and melodic, musically different from the aggressive

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States a ...

of Soundgarden. Cornell approached Wood's former Mother Love Bone bandmates

and

—who were still figuring out what to do after the death of their singer and lyricist—with the intention of releasing the songs as a single. Ament described the collaboration as "a really good thing at the time" for Gossard and him that put them into a "band situation where we could play and make music." The band's lineup was completed by the addition of Soundgarden (and later

) drummer

and future Pearl Jam lead guitarist

, who was Gossard's childhood friend. They named themselves Temple of the Dog, a reference to a line in the lyrics of the Mother Love Bone song "Man of Golden Words". The band started rehearsing "Reach Down", "Say Hello 2 Heaven", and other songs that Cornell had written on tour prior to Wood's death, as well as re-working some existing material from demos written by Gossard, Ament, and Cameron.Alden, Grant. "Requiem for a Heavyweight." ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

''. July 1997 One such demo became a song for two bands, recorded as "Footsteps" by Pearl Jam and "Times of Trouble" by Temple of the Dog. The idea of doing covers of Wood's solo material also came up, but was abandoned quickly, as the band felt it would make people (including Wood's close friends and relatives) think they were "exploiting his material."

Recording

The release of a single was soon deemed a "stupid idea" by Cornell and dropped in favor of an EP or

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

. The album was recorded in only 15 days, produced by the band themselves, along with

Rick Parashar Rakesh "Rick" Parashar (December 13, 1963 – August 14, 2014) was an American record producer, recording engineer and musician. Along with his brother Raj, he founded London Bridge Studio in Seattle, Washington, in 1985. During his career he wo ...

of London Bridge Studio. Gossard described the recording process as a "non-pressure-filled" situation, as there were no expectations or pressure coming from the record company.

, who had flown up to

from

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

to audition to be the singer of Ament, Gossard, and McCready's new band, Mookie Blaylock (named for a basketball player, the band would later be renamed Pearl Jam), was at one of the Temple of the Dog rehearsals, and ended up providing backing vocals on a few songs, with "

Hunger Strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

" becoming a duet between Cornell and Vedder. Cornell was still figuring out the vocals at practice, when Vedder stepped in and filled in the blanks, singing the low parts because he saw it was hard for Cornell. As Cornell later described it: "He sang half of that song not even knowing that I'd wanted the part to be there and he sang it exactly the way I was thinking about doing it, just instinctively." "Hunger Strike" became Temple of the Dog's breakout single. It was also Vedder's first featured vocal on a record. In the 2011 documentary '' Pearl Jam Twenty'', Vedder states: "That was the first time I heard myself on a real record. It could be one of my favorite songs that I've ever been on — or the most meaningful."

Release and delayed success

'' Temple of the Dog'', the band's self-titled album, was released on April 16, 1991, through A&M Records and initially sold 70,000 copies in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Ament recalled requesting that A&M include a Pearl Jam sticker on the cover—as they had just picked their new name—because "it'll be a good thing for us", but they refused. The album received favorable reviews, but failed to chart. Critic Steve Huey of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

later gave the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, stating that the "record sounds like a bridge between Mother Love Bone's theatrical '70s-rock updates and Pearl Jam's hard-rocking seriousness."

David Fricke David Fricke is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 years. I ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' wrote, in retrospect, that the album "deserves immortality." The band members were pleased with the material, as it achieved its purpose; Cornell believed that "Andy really would have liked" the songs, and Gossard also asserted that he thought Wood would be "blown away by the whole thing". Soon after the album's release, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam embarked on recording their own albums, and the Temple of the Dog project was brought to a close, without a promotional tour for the album. In the summer of 1992, the album received renewed attention. Although it had been released more than a year earlier, A&M Records realized that they had in their catalog what was essentially a collaboration between Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, who had both risen to mainstream attention in the months since the album's release with their respective albums, ''

Badmotorfinger ''Badmotorfinger'' is the third studio album by American rock band Soundgarden, released on October 8, 1991, through A&M Records. Soundgarden began the recording sessions for the album with new bassist Ben Shepherd in the spring of 1991. The alb ...

'' and '' Ten''. A&M decided to reissue the album and promote "Hunger Strike" as a single, with an accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

that had been previously filmed. The attention allowed both the album and single to chart on

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

and resulted in a boost in album sales. The album ended up being among the 100 top-selling albums of 1992, and it has sold more than a million copies, achieving a

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

certification by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

Subsequent events

McCready, Ament, Cameron, and Cornell later reunited under the name M.A.C.C. to record a cover of

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

's "Hey Baby (Land of the New Rising Sun)" for the 1993 tribute album '' Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix''. The song has since been included as part of the band's live set. In a 2007 interview with

Ultimate Guitar Archive Ultimate Guitar (Ultimate Guitar USA LLC), which is also known as Ultimate-Guitar.com or simply UG, is an online platform for guitarists and musicians. Its website and mobile application provides guitar tablature catalogues and chord sheets. ...

, Cornell stated he would be open to a Temple of the Dog reunion, or "some collaboration with any combination of those guys". He also revealed that Temple of the Dog was the reason he joined

Audioslave Audioslave was an American rock supergroup formed in Glendale, California, in 2001. The four-piece band consisted of Soundgarden's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell with Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello (lead guitar) ...

, as the experience made him "keep an open mind" about collaborations with musicians from other bands.

Live performances

During their initial existence, the only time Temple of the Dog played a full one-hour set was while rehearsing and writing the material for the album. The band (with the exception of Vedder) performed in Seattle at the Off Ramp Café on November 13, 1990. They also opened for

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

, following the short lived Seattle group Panic, on December 22, 1990, at the Moore Theatre in Seattle. In the time since the album's release, the band has re-formed for short live one-off performances on occasions where both Soundgarden and Pearl Jam were performing. Temple of the Dog performed "Hunger Strike" on October 3, 1991, at the

Foundations Forum Foundations Forum was the first exclusively heavy metal music industry convention, held annually from 1988 to 1997 in Los Angeles. The convention was set up by Concrete Marketing who had in January 1988 created the first industry trade magaz ...

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, California; a three-song set on October 6, 1991, at the

Hollywood Palladium The Hollywood Palladium is a theater located at 6215 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. It was built in a Streamline Moderne, Art Deco style and includes an dance floor including a mezzanine and a floor level with room for up to 4,000 ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

for the ''

'' Magazine 5th anniversary party (Temple of the Dog played after secret headlining act Spinal Tap); and "Hunger Strike" on both August 14, 1992, at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

, and September 13, 1992, at Irvine Meadows Amphitheater in Irvine, California (both shows were part of the

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

festival series in 1992). The band also played "Reach Down" on the latter occasion. At a Pearl Jam show at the

Santa Barbara Bowl The Santa Barbara Bowl is a 4,562-seat amphitheater, located in Santa Barbara, California. The amphitheater is open for concerts from approximately April through approximately October with an average of about 27 concerts per season. Booked exclu ...

in Santa Barbara, California, on October 28, 2003, Cornell joined the band on-stage, effectively reuniting Temple of the Dog (Cameron had been the drummer for Pearl Jam since 1998) for renditions of "Hunger Strike" and "Reach Down". Cornell also performed Audioslave's "Like a Stone" and Chris Cornell's "Can't Change Me". The version of "Reach Down" recorded that night later appeared on Pearl Jam's 2003 fan club Christmas single. Pearl Jam has also been known to perform, on rare occasions, "Hunger Strike" live without Cornell. Cornell's post-Soundgarden band, Audioslave, added "All Night Thing", "Call Me a Dog", and "Hunger Strike" to its live set in 2005. Additionally, Cornell added the aforementioned songs, plus "Pushin Forward Back", "Wooden Jesus", "Reach Down", and "Say Hello 2 Heaven", to his solo live set. On October 6, 2009, Cornell joined Pearl Jam onstage to perform "Hunger Strike" in Los Angeles, effectively reuniting Temple of the Dog once again. After this, a fan group emerged on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

in April 2010 to encourage a 20th anniversary benefit reunion tour, to begin on April 16, 2011. During

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

weekend, 2011, Cornell joined Pearl Jam onstage at

Alpine Valley Alpine Valley Music Theatre is a 37,000-capacity amphitheater located on County Highway D in East Troy, Wisconsin. The seasonal venue was built in 1977 and it features a characteristic wooden roof, covering the 7,500-seat pavilion and a sprawling ...

in Wisconsin for PJ20 (Pearl Jam's twentieth anniversary celebration). On September 3, he joined them for a four-song set, which included the songs "Stardog Champion" (a Mother Love Bone cover with Cornell on vocals), "Say Hello 2 Heaven", "Reach Down", and "Hunger Strike". The next day, he joined them for "Hunger Strike", "Call Me a Dog", "All Night Thing", and "Reach Down" (which also included

Glen Hansard Glen Hansard (born 21 April 1970) is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and actor. Since 1990, he has been the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames, with whom he has released six studio albums, four of which have charted in the top te ...

Dhani Harrison Dhani Harrison (; born 1 August 1978) is an English musician, composer and singer-songwriter. He is the only child of George and Olivia Harrison. Dhani debuted as a professional musician assisting in recording his father's final album, ''Brainw ...

Thenewno2 Thenewno2 (styled as thenewno2) is an English alternative rock band from London. Originally composed of Dhani Harrison and Oliver Hecks, with Harrison playing lead guitar and singing lead vocals, and Hecks playing drums and synthesizer. As of ...

Davíd Garza David Garza (pronounced Dah-veed; born February 4, 1971) is a Grammy winning Los Angeles based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, and visual artist. Biography A third-generation Mexican-American and Dallas-area native ...

, and

Liam Finn Liam Mullane Finn (born 24 September 1983) is a New Zealand singer and musician. Born in Melbourne, Australia, he moved to New Zealand as a child. He is the son of musicians Sharon and Neil Finn. In 2020, he joined his father's band, Crowded ...

). On both October 25 and 26, 2014, Cornell joined Pearl Jam onstage to perform "Hunger Strike" at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California, during the 28th Annual

Bridge School Benefit The Bridge School Benefit was an annual charity concert usually held in Mountain View, California, every October at the Shoreline Amphitheatre from 1986 until 2016 with the exception of 1987. The concerts lasted the entire weekend and were orga ...

. The October 26 concert marked the last time that Vedder and Cornell performed the song together. On January 30, 2015, Pearl Jam bandmates Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, and Matt Cameron joined Chris Cornell and Mike McCready during the Mad Season Sonic Evolution Concert at

Benaroya Hall Benaroya Hall is the home of the Seattle Symphony in Downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. It features two auditoria, the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, a 2500-seat performance venue, as well as the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital H ...

with the Seattle Symphony. The group performed two songs from the album: "Reach Down" and "Call Me a Dog". Temple of the Dog finally officially toured in the fall of 2016 in celebration of the 25th anniversary of their self-titled album. Vedder did not participate in the tour, citing "family commitments", so, at the band's concert at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle on November 21, 2016, the crowd sang his part in "Hunger Strike" and Cornell dedicated the song to him.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

* 1991 – "Hunger Strike" * 2016 – "Hunger Strike" (2016 Mix)

Members

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar, banjo, harmonica *

– lead guitar, backing vocals *

– rhythm guitar, backing vocals *

– bass, backing vocals *

– drums, backing vocals *

– backing vocals, co-lead vocals

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Temple Of The Dog A&M Records artists Alternative rock groups from Washington (state) Grunge musical groups Musical groups established in 1990 Musical groups disestablished in 1992 Musical groups reestablished in 2016 Musical groups from Seattle Pearl Jam Soundgarden Supergroups (music) Tribute bands