Twenty-five years after releasing an album in the heyday of grunge, Temple of the Dog — the supergroup featuring members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden — is going on its first tour.
The group said it was reforming for five shows in November — in its home base of Seattle as well as Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco.
“We wanted to do the one thing we never got to do — play shows and see what it feels like to be the band that we walked away from 25 years ago,” frontman Chris Cornell said in a statement.
Cornell, the singer from Soundgarden, created the band with Pearl Jam’s guitarist Mike McCready and drummer Matt Cameron, who has played in both Soundgarden and Pearl Jam.
The other members are guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament, members of Pearl Jam. The pair were originally members of Mother Love Bone, an influential but short-lived Seattle band whose frontman Andrew Wood died of an overdose shortly before the release of the band’s only album Apple.
Temple of the Dog was initially meant as a tribute band to Mother Love Bone and released a sole, self-titled album in 1991.
Grunge — with its angst-ridden lyricism and punk-inspired distorted guitar — was bursting into the mainstream at the time, with Nirvana releasing its blockbuster album Nevermind several months later.
Temple of the Dog will reissue its album to mark the 25th anniversary and tour.
Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder contributed backing vocals on the album, although he was not considered a member of the band and is not scheduled to join the tour.
