hypersongs

Soundgarden

The Seattle band that was the first grunge group to sign to a major label, and whose 1991 album Badmotorfinger opened with the single "Jesus Christ Pose".

Seattle to A&M

Soundgarden formed in Seattle in 1984 with Chris Cornell on drums and vocals at first, Hiro Yamamoto on bass and Kim Thayil on guitar, and took its name from A Sound Garden, a wind-channeling pipe sculpture in the city. Scott Sundquist played drums in 1985 and 1986 so Cornell could focus on singing, and Matt Cameron, formerly of Skin Yard, joined in 1986. Jason Everman, formerly of Nirvana, replaced Yamamoto in 1989, and Ben Shepherd took over the bass in April 1990. They released EPs on Sub Pop in 1987 and 1988, Ultramega OK on SST (October 31, 1988, recorded in spring 1988 and nominated for a Grammy for best metal performance), and signed to A&M in mid-1988, the first grunge band to sign to a major label. Louder Than Love (September 5, 1989) was the first grunge album to enter the Billboard 200, at 108. Cornell later said it was a few degrees too produced and too clean.

Badmotorfinger (October 8, 1991) and Superunknown (March 8, 1994) followed; the latter debuted at number one, went six times platinum, and won Grammys for "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman". Down on the Upside (May 21, 1996) debuted at number two. They toured with Guns N' Roses and Skid Row in 1991 and 1992 and played Lollapalooza in 1992. The band announced it was breaking up on April 9, 1997.

Reunion and honors

They reunited in 2010, with a first show in Seattle on April 16, and made King Animal (November 13, 2012, debuting at 5). Their final show with Cornell was on May 17, 2017 at the Fox Theatre in Detroit; Cornell died on May 18, 2017. In October 2018 Thayil said the band had disbanded again, and a five-hour, 42-song tribute concert took place in January 2019. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Los Angeles on November 8, 2025, with a speech by Jim Carrey, Yamamoto playing with the band for the first time in 36 years, and "Black Hole Sun" performed with Jerry Cantrell, Taylor Momsen and Brandi Carlile.

Wikipedia counts more than 14 million US sales by 2019 and about 30 million worldwide. Pantera cited Louder Than Love as inspiration, Kirk Hammett said the Enter Sandman riffs were inspired by Soundgarden, and AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the band made a place for heavy metal in alternative rock. Books include Chris Nickson's Soundgarden: New Metal Crown (1995) and Greg Prato's Dark Black and Blue (2019).

Albums

Songs

  • Jesus Christ Pose Badmotorfinger · 1991

    The first single from Badmotorfinger, whose video was banned by MTV.

Sources

  1. Soundgarden, Wikipedia
  2. Badmotorfinger, Wikipedia
  3. Jesus Christ Pose, Wikipedia
  4. Superunknown, Wikipedia