Jonathan Poneman is an American record executive and co-founder of two record labels:

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

and Hardly Art. He was credited by Kurt Cobain as the one who coined the term "grunge.”

Early life and education

The third child of Harold and Beverly Poneman, Jonathan Poneman was born October 9, 1959, in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, and grew up in the suburb of Ottawa Hills. He got his first job, pumping gas at a local filling station at the age of 14. After being kicked out of high school in 11th grade, Poneman moved to

Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...

, and graduated from Arcadia High School in 1977. He moved to Washington in the same year.

Career

In 1983, Poneman began volunteering at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

's student-run radio station, KCMU, a forerunner to

KEXP KEXP-FM (90.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a non-commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station in Seattle, Seattle, Washington, United States, specializing in indie music programmed by its disc jockeys. KEXP's studios are located at the Seattle Cent ...

, and important champion of local independent music. Mark Arm of

Mudhoney Mudhoney is an American rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, on January 1, 1988, following the demise of Green River (band), Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner (guitari ...

, photographer Charles Peterson,

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell switched to rhythm guitar in 1985, replaced on drums initially ...

guitarist

Kim Thayil Kim Anand Thayil (born September 4, 1960)Kim Thayil Biography
Unofficial SG Homepage.

, and Poneman's eventual business partner Bruce Pavitt also worked regular air shifts at the station. At a 1985 KCMU benefit show Poneman had booked, he first saw Soundgarden perform at the Rainbow Tavern near the University of Washington and was especially impressed by the band's singer,

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

. In 1987, Poneman contributed $2,000 of his own money to help get Soundgarden's debut single, ''"Hunted Down" / "Nothing to Say"'' and EP, ''

Screaming Life ''Screaming Life'' is the debut EP by American Rock music, rock band Soundgarden, released in November 1987 by Sub Pop. It was later combined with the band's next EP, ''Fopp (EP), Fopp'' (1988), and released as the ''Screaming Life/Fopp'' compil ...

'', released on Pavitt's fledgling Sub Pop label. On April 1, 1988, Poneman and Pavitt pooled together $19,000 which gave Poneman a 50% stake in the business, to open Sub Pop Records as a full service record label in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. Poneman was the first record label executive to sign

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

to a record contract. In 2007, Poneman started an offshoot label called Hardly Art.

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

stated in a 1993 interview that Poneman may have been the person to first come up with the term

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

for the type of music they were producing. As of 2020, Poneman remains at the helm of Sub Pop Records and splits his time between Seattle,

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, and

Lipce Reymontowskie Lipce Reymontowskie (until 1983 Lipce) is a village in Skierniewice County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Lipce Reymontowskie. It lies approximately south-west of Skiern ...

, Poland.

Health

In 2013 he was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

Awards

In 2014, Poneman was the recipient of the Independent Spirit Award, presented by the

Music Business Association The Music Business Association (Music Biz), formerly known as the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), is a not-for-profit trade association based in Nashville, Tennessee. It hosts in-person and virtual events related to music ...

. In 2019 he was also honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Association of Independent Music ( A2IM).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poneman, Jonathan Living people 1959 births Sub Pop