Soundgarden

Soundgarden
Soundgarden performing in February 2013. From left to right: Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, Chris Cornell and Ben Shepherd.
Background information
Origin	Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Genres	Grunge heavy metal alternative metal hard rock alternative rock
Years active	1984–1997 2010–present
Labels	Sub Pop SST A&M Interscope Seven Four Republic
Associated acts	Temple of the Dog Audioslave Rage Against The Machine Hater Wellwater Conspiracy The No WTO Combo Pearl Jam Truly
Website	www.soundgardenworld.com
Members	Chris Cornell Kim Thayil Ben Shepherd Matt Cameron
Past members	Hiro Yamamoto Scott Sundquist Jason Everman

Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Matt Cameron became the band's full-time drummer in 1986, while bassist Ben Shepherd became a permanent replacement for Yamamoto in 1990.

Soundgarden was one of the seminal bands in the creation of grunge, a style of alternative rock that developed in Seattle, and was one of a number of grunge bands signed to the record label Sub Pop. Soundgarden was the first grunge band to sign to a major label (A&M Records in 1988), though the band did not achieve commercial success until they popularized the genre in the early 1990s with Seattle contemporaries Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Alice in Chains.

Soundgarden achieved its biggest success with the 1994 album Superunknown, which debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and yielded the Grammy Award-winning singles "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman". In 1997, the band broke up due to internal strife over its creative direction. After more than a decade of working on projects and other bands, Soundgarden reunited in 2010 and their sixth studio album, King Animal, was released two years later.

As of 2012, Soundgarden had sold more than 10.5 million records in the United States, and an estimated 22.5 million worldwide.VH1 ranked Soundgarden at number 14 in their special 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.

Soundgarden's origins can be found in a band called The Shemps, which performed around Seattle in the early 1980s, and featured bassist Hiro Yamamoto and drummer and singer Chris Cornell. Following Yamamoto's departure, the band recruited guitarist Kim Thayil as its new bassist. Thayil had moved to Seattle from Park Forest, Illinois, with Yamamoto and Bruce Pavitt, who would later start the independent record label Sub Pop. Cornell and Yamamoto stayed in contact, and after The Shemps broke up Cornell and Yamamoto started jamming together, and were eventually joined by Thayil.