Temple Of The Dog
Biography
Temple of the Dog emerged from the rain-soaked streets of Seattle in 1990 as a deeply personal tribute to a fallen friend, yet inadvertently became a crucial bridge between two of grunge's most defining eras. What began as a cathartic exercise in grief would ultimately serve as the missing link between Mother Love Bone's tragic end and Pearl Jam's meteoric rise, while simultaneously showcasing Soundgarden at their most emotionally vulnerable.
The band's genesis lies in the devastating loss of Andrew Wood, the charismatic frontman of Mother Love Bone, who died of a heroin overdose in March 1990. Chris Cornell, Soundgarden's towering vocalist, had been close friends with Wood since their early days in the Seattle scene, and the tragedy hit him particularly hard. Cornell channeled his grief into songwriting, crafting material that would honor his friend's memory while processing his own profound sense of loss. The band's name itself was drawn from a lyric in Mother Love Bone's "Man of Box," transforming Wood's own words into a memorial.
Cornell enlisted the surviving members of Mother Love Bone – guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament – to help bring these songs to life. The trio was soon joined by guitarist Mike McCready and a young surfer from San Diego named Eddie Vedder, who had recently impressed Gossard and Ament with his vocals on demo recordings that would eventually become Pearl Jam's breakthrough. Matt Cameron, Cornell's bandmate from Soundgarden, completed the lineup on drums, creating a supergroup before the term became a marketing cliché.
The band's sound merged Soundgarden's heavy, psychedelic-tinged approach with the more melodic sensibilities that would soon define Pearl Jam. Cornell's operatic vocals soared over intricate guitar interplay and thunderous rhythms, creating music that was simultaneously crushing and beautiful. The songs ranged from delicate acoustic ballads to full-throttle rockers, unified by an underlying current of melancholy and spiritual searching that reflected both the circumstances of their creation and the broader existential weight of the grunge movement.
Temple of the Dog recorded their sole album in just fifteen days at London Bridge Studios in Seattle during November and December 1990. The sessions were marked by a collaborative spirit and emotional intensity that permeated every track. Cornell's "Say Hello 2 Heaven" served as the album's emotional centerpiece, a soaring tribute to Wood that showcased the singer's remarkable range and the band's dynamic interplay. "Reach Down" demonstrated their heavier inclinations, while "Pushin Forward Back" offered a glimpse of the more experimental territories they might have explored had they continued.
The album's most enduring track proved to be "Hunger Strike," a duet between Cornell and Vedder that highlighted the contrast between their vocal styles – Cornell's powerful, trained voice playing against Vedder's raw, emotional delivery. The song would later become the band's sole hit single, though not until years after its initial release. When first issued in April 1991, the album sold modestly, overshadowed by the explosion of interest in both Soundgarden and the newly-formed Pearl Jam.
Temple of the Dog's brief existence was always intended to be temporary. After completing the album and playing a handful of low-key shows in the Seattle area, the members returned to their respective bands. Cornell continued leading Soundgarden to multi-platinum success, while Gossard, Ament, McCready, and Vedder launched Pearl Jam, who would become one of the decade's biggest rock acts. Cameron would later join Pearl Jam permanently after his tenure with Soundgarden ended.
The album's legacy grew substantially throughout the 1990s as both parent bands achieved massive commercial success. A 1992 reissue, bolstered by the popularity of Pearl Jam and featuring the "Hunger Strike" video in heavy MTV rotation, brought Temple of the Dog to a much wider audience. The album eventually achieved platinum status, a bittersweet vindication for what had always been a labor of love rather than a commercial venture.
In 2016, twenty-five years after their formation, Temple of the Dog reunited for a brief tour celebrating the album's anniversary. The shows were emotional affairs, with the surviving members honoring both Andrew Wood's memory and Chris Cornell's contributions to their shared musical legacy. Tragically, Cornell's own death by suicide in 2017 added another layer of poignancy to Temple of the Dog's story, transforming their music into a memorial for two of Seattle's most beloved voices.
Temple
