Pearl Jam is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, that formed in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries and is considered one of the most influential bands from that decade.
members: Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Matt Cameron, Josh Klinghoffer
formed in: Seattle
labels: Monkeywrench Records, Universal Music Group, J Records, Epic Records
genres: grunge, hard rock
influenced by: The Who, Neil Young, The Dead Boys, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Dinosaur Jr., Minor Threat, The Doors
awards: Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance, American Music Award for Favorite Alternative Rock Artist, American Music Award for Favorite Alternative Rock Artist, MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year, MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction, MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video, MTV Video Music Award for Best Group, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
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Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament were members of Seattle-based grunge band Green River during the mid-1980s. Green River toured and recorded to moderate success, but disbanded in 1987 due to a stylistic division between the pair and bandmate Mark Arm. In late 1987, Gossard and Ament began playing with Malfunkshun vocalist Andrew Wood, eventually organizing the band Mother Love Bone. In 1988 and 1989, the band recorded and toured to increasing interest. PolyGram signed the band in late 1988. Mother Love Bone's debut album, Apple, was released in August 1990, five months after Wood died of a heroin overdose.
Compared with the other grunge bands of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam's style is noticeably less heavy and harks back to the classic rock music of the 1970s. Pearl Jam has cited many classic rock bands and artists as influences, including Grateful Dead, the Beatles, the Who, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, MC5, Rush, Van Halen, King's X, as well as alternative and punk bands such as R.E.M., Fugazi, the Clash and the Ramones. Pearl Jam's success has been attributed to its sound, which fuses "the riff-heavy stadium rock of the '70s with the grit and anger of '80s post-punk, without ever neglecting hooks and choruses". Gossard's rhythm guitar style is known...
While Nirvana had brought grunge to the mainstream in the early 1990s with Nevermind, Pearl Jam's debut Ten outsold it in the United States, and the band became "the most popular American rock & roll band of the '90s" according to AllMusic. Pearl Jam has been described as "modern rock radio's most influential stylists – the workmanlike midtempo chug of songs like 'Alive' and 'Even Flow' just melodic enough to get moshers singing along". The band inspired and influenced a number of bands, including Silverchair, Creed and Puddle of Mudd. The band has also been credited for inspiring the indie rock scene of 90s-era urban Pakistan, that has since evolved into a rich rock music culture in the country.
"Yellow Ledbetter" is a song by the American band Pearl Jam. Featuring lyrics written by vocalist Eddie Vedder and music co-written by bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Mike McCready, "Yellow Ledbetter" was an outtake from the band's debut album, Ten (1991).
"Yellow Ledbetter" was selected by the band to be on the B-side of the 1992 single "Jeremy", where it was first released. The song eventually found its way onto radio, peaking at number 21 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
"Yellow Ledbetter" was a Ten outtake and one of the first songs Pearl Jam wrote as a group. The song features lyrics written by vocalist Eddie Vedder and music co-written by bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Mike McCready. The version of "Yellow Ledbetter" that was eventually released was the second take of the song. McCready says of the song,
The song title "Yellow Ledbetter" is derived from the actual name of an old friend of Vedder's from Chicago, named Tim Ledbetter. Although many fans have made their own interpretations of the song's meaning, a common theory has been that the song is about someone receiving a letter saying that his or her brother had died overseas in war, as cited from the lyrics in the Live at the Garden version, "I don't know whether my brother will be coming home in a box or a bag." On the official bootleg release of 5/3/03 – State College, Pennsylvania, Vedder sings "I'd like to wish this war away, and I tried, but it just, just don't happen, don't happen that way/And my brother...they sent him off to fight for the flag. I just, I don't hope he comes...
Without being released as a single, "Yellow Ledbetter" peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number 26 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in 1994. The song has become a favorite among fans of the band. Although the song was not released on any of Pearl Jam's studio albums, it remains one of their most popular songs.