Pearl Jam

Of the bands that made their mark in the rock scene in the 1990s, PearlJam is one of the most famous, as well as the most commercially successful. So famous that vocalist Eddie Vedder made the cover of Time magazine against his wishes, PearlJam came out of Seattle and put their mark on the music world. The band, with its distinctive sound, makes it hard to categorize, coming from the grunge scene, and fitting in the alternative rock scene as well.

Because of their enormous popularity of their music, though, it's this sound that helped to shape rock in the 1990s. The simple fact that they continue to tour and play together, unlike other bands of the decade such as Creed, is a testament to the talent and cohesion of this band.

Founding members Stone Gossard and Jeff Arment started PearlJam after the tragic death of the vocalist of their former band, Mother Love Bone, caused the breakup of that band. Eddie Vedder was given a demo of the band's music by a friend of his while the duo was searching for a vocalist, and after recording lyrics to go with the music and sending the demo back to the band, joined the group and went from being a San Diego gas station attendant to part of the Seattle music scene.

Their debut album, Ten, was a slow seller at first, released in August 1991 and dealing with subjects such as suicide, murder, and depression. Still, popularity snowballed, and by the end of 1992, PearlJam's album was at number two on the Billboard charts and had produced four hit singles. The band became a key part of the Seattle music scene with contemporaries such as Nirvana and Soundgarden, touring often to promote their album.

PearlJam wasn't always popular with other members of the Seattle scene; Kurt Cobain of Nirvana accused the band of being commercial sellouts. Despite this accusation, PearlJam took positions that often ran counter to commercial ideals. While the band made a video for their hit "Jeremy," they refused to make one for their song, "Black," despite pressure from their record label. After the success of their second album, Vs., the band toured less and continued their practice of creating no videos, part of a conscious decision to scale back commercial efforts.

PearlJam was also part of a highly publicized stand against ticket vendor Ticketmaster, as the band was reportedly outraged to find that the vendor had tacked on high services charges associated with the tickets for their shows in Chicago. Gossard and Arment eventually spoke with Congress, who was investigating whether Ticketmaster set themselves as a monopoly in violation of antitrust laws. In the meantime, PearlJam refused to play at any venues where Ticketmaster was set up as the ticket vendor.

The 1990s proved to bring further success to the band, with four more albums released between 1993 and 2000, and ends to the band's boycotts on music videos and playing at venues where Ticketmaster was the venue. During this time, the band changed drummers twice, first picking up Jack Irons, a friend of Vedder's and former drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, then later changing again and adding former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron to the band.

It was the end of the band's 2000 tour in Europe that tragedy hit, but not for the members of PearlJam. At their concert in Roskilde, Denmark, fans rushed the stage, trampling people and leading to the death of nine fans, despite efforts from the band to calm the rushing crowd. Devastated, the band considered retiring, but continued on with the support of their fans, starting an American tour a month after, where they famously refused to play the song "Alive" until the last show on this tour.

Since, PearlJam has continued to make records, a total of eight so far, and continues to tour, currently planning to play at Lollapalooza in August 2007, though there are currently no set plans for another album. Despite this, band members stay in touch and seem to indicate that a new album will come someday. For a band that was voted the greatest rock band of all time, according to a poll in USA Today in 2005, the future will likely hold further successes.

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