Editing Mike McCready (section)

==Biography==

===Early life===
Mike McCready was born in [[Pensacola, Florida]], but his family moved to [[Seattle]] shortly after his birth.<ref name="The Rock FM">The Rock FM. [http://www.therock.net.nz/Pearl-Jam-interview/tabid/431/articleID/6488/cat/175/Default.aspx Mike McCready interview on The Rock radio station] ''The Rock''. November 19, 2009.</ref> When he was a child, his parents played [[Jimi Hendrix]] and [[Carlos Santana|Santana]]; while his friends listened to [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] and [[Aerosmith]], McCready would frequently play bongo drums.<ref name="Rotondi, James">Rotondi, James. [http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/gp194.shtml "Blood On the Tracks"]. ''[[Guitar Player]]''. January 1994.</ref> At the age of eleven, McCready purchased his first guitar and began taking lessons.

In eighth grade, McCready formed his first band, Warrior, whose name soon changed to Shadow. Originally a cover band playing during free periods at [[Roosevelt High School (Seattle, Washington)|Roosevelt High School]], the band eventually began writing original material and recording demo tapes.<ref name="goldmine">Greene, Jo-Ann. [http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/gm082093_2.shtml "Intrigue and Incest: Pearl Jam and the Secret History of Seattle" (Part 2)]. ''[[Goldmine (magazine)|Goldmine]]''. August 20, 1993.</ref> After high school, McCready worked at a pizza restaurant where he befriended musician [[Pete Droge]].<ref>Alvarez, Tina. [http://emol.org/music/tina/droge.html "Pete Droge"]. EMOL Music. 1996.</ref> In 1986, Shadow relocated to Los Angeles and attempted to cut a record deal.<ref name="goldmine"/> However, according to McCready:

<blockquote>We played to a couple bartenders down there, but even though it was a bad scene, it was a good experience. Basically, we weren't that good of a band, and we didn't realize it until we got down there. I guess we lost our focus, got really bummed out and came back to Seattle.<ref name="Rotondi, James"/></blockquote>

In 1988, Shadow returned to Seattle and split up soon afterwards.<ref name="goldmine"/> McCready lost interest in playing guitar for some time, stating that he was "so depressed about life".<ref name="aledort">Aledort, Andy. [http://www.giventowail.com/new/mike/articles/gw700.php "Aural Exam"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050210155325/http://www.giventowail.com/new/mike/articles/gw700.php |date=February 10, 2005 }}. ''[[Guitar World]]''. July 2000.</ref> He cut his hair, enrolled in a local community college, and spent his nights working at a video store.<ref name="Rotondi, James"/> He credits a friend named Russ Riedner for getting him "out of my college mode and back into playing guitar".<ref name="Rotondi, James"/> McCready was inspired to pick up his guitar again after attending a [[Stevie Ray Vaughan]] concert at [[The Gorge Amphitheatre]] in [[George, Washington]]. McCready said:

<blockquote>As soon as he started "Couldn't Stand the Weather", these huge clouds rolled in overhead, and rain began pouring down. When the song ended, the rain stopped! It was like a religious experience, and it changed me. It lifted me out of the negative mindset I was in, and it got me playing again. I thank him forever for that.<ref name="aledort"/></blockquote>

McCready gradually went back to playing guitar and finally joined another band called Love Chile.<ref name="Rotondi, James"/> A childhood friend, [[Stone Gossard]], went to one of the band's shows and appreciated McCready's work after hearing him perform Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Couldn't Stand the Weather".<ref name="secondcoming">{{cite magazine | last = Hiatt | first = Brian | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/pearl_jam_the_second_coming | title = The Second Coming of Pearl Jam | magazine = [[Rolling Stone]] | date = June 16, 2006 | access-date = June 22, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090429081700/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/pearl_jam_the_second_coming/page/2 | archive-date = April 29, 2009 | url-status = dead }}</ref> Gossard had known McCready before high school when the two would trade rock band pictures with each other.<ref name="Rotondi, James"/> After the demise of Gossard's band [[Mother Love Bone]], he asked McCready if he wanted to play music together with him.<ref name="goldmine"/> After practicing with Gossard for a few months, McCready encouraged Gossard to reconnect with his fellow Mother Love Bone alum, [[Jeff Ament]].<ref name="secondcoming"/>

===Temple of the Dog===
{{Main|Temple of the Dog}}
The trio were attempting to form their own band when they were invited to be part of the [[Temple of the Dog]] project founded by [[Soundgarden]]'s [[Chris Cornell]] as a musical tribute to Mother Love Bone's frontman [[Andrew Wood (singer)|Andrew Wood]], who died of a heroin overdose at age 24. Cornell had been Wood's roommate. The band's line-up was completed by the addition of Soundgarden drummer [[Matt Cameron]].{{cn|date=January 2024}}

The band started rehearsing songs that Cornell had written on tour prior to Wood's death, as well as re-working some existing material from demos written by Gossard and Ament.<ref name="Guitar World - Requiem for a Heavyweight">Alden, Grant. "Requiem for a Heavyweight." ''[[Guitar World]]''. July 1997</ref> This was McCready's first recording studio experience, and he took a central role in the project. McCready performed an epic four-minute-plus solo for "Reach Down". According to Cornell, McCready's [[Headphones|headphone]] monitors flew off halfway through the recording of the solo, and he played the rest of the solo without being able to hear the backing track.<ref name="tenpast">Weisbard, Eric, et al. [http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/spin801.shtml "Ten Past Ten"] [[Spin (magazine)|''Spin'']]. August 2001.</ref> McCready considers this track to be one of his proudest moments.<ref name="Gilbert">Gilbert, Jeff. [http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/gs0595.shtml "Prime Cuts: Mike McCready – The Best of Pearl Jam!"]. ''Guitar School''. May 1995.</ref> The Temple of the Dog project eventually featured vocalist [[Eddie Vedder]]. (Vedder had come to Seattle to audition to be the singer for Ament and Gossard's next band, which later became Pearl Jam.) Vedder sang a duet with Cornell on the song "[[Hunger Strike (song)|Hunger Strike]]" and provided background vocals on several other songs. The band decided that it had enough material for an entire album, and in April 1991 ''[[Temple of the Dog (album)|Temple of the Dog]]'' was released through [[A&M Records]].{{cn|date=January 2024}}

===Pearl Jam===
{{Main|Pearl Jam}}
[[File:MMcCready06.jpg|thumb|180px|right|McCready on stage with [[Pearl Jam]] in [[Albany, New York|Albany]], New York on May 12, 2006]]
Pearl Jam was formed in 1990 by Ament, Gossard, and McCready,<ref name="crowe">{{cite magazine | last = Crowe | first = Cameron | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10560431/five_against_the_world | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070519100135/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10560431/five_against_the_world | url-status = dead | archive-date = May 19, 2007 | title = Five Against the World | magazine = [[Rolling Stone]] | date = October 28, 1993 | access-date = June 23, 2007 }}</ref> who then recruited Vedder and drummer [[Dave Krusen]]. The band originally took the name [[Mookie Blaylock]], but was forced to change it when the band signed to [[Epic Records]] in 1991. After the recording sessions for ''[[Ten (Pearl Jam album)|Ten]]'' were completed, Krusen left Pearl Jam in May 1991.<ref name="goldmine"/> Krusen was replaced by [[Matt Chamberlain]], who had previously played with [[Edie Brickell & New Bohemians]]. After playing only a handful of shows, one of which was filmed for the "[[Alive (Pearl Jam song)|Alive]]" video, Chamberlain left to join the ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' band.<ref name="peiken">{{cite magazine | url=https://pearljamhistory.no.sapo.pt/PJArticles_Interviews_12-xx-93_-_modern_drummer.htm | title=Dave Abbruzzese of Pearl Jam | access-date=July 1, 2007 | author=Peiken, Matt | magazine=[[Modern Drummer]] | date=December 1993 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120629145947/http://pearljamhistory.no.sapo.pt/PJArticles_Interviews_12-xx-93_-_modern_drummer.htm | archive-date=June 29, 2012 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> As his replacement, Chamberlain suggested [[Dave Abbruzzese]], who joined the group and played the rest of Pearl Jam's live shows supporting the ''Ten'' album.

''Ten'' broke the band into the mainstream, and became one of the best-selling alternative albums of the 1990s. The band found itself amidst the sudden popularity and attention given to the Seattle music scene and the genre known as [[grunge]]. McCready frequently soloed, and added a [[blues]] touch to the music (influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughan). The single "[[Jeremy (song)|Jeremy]]" received [[Grammy Award]] nominations for [[Grammy Award for Best Rock Song|Best Rock Song]] and [[Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance|Best Hard Rock Performance]] in 1993.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19930107/1678641/clapton-tops-list-of-grammy-nominations |title=Clapton Tops List of Grammy Nominations |newspaper=[[The Seattle Times]] |access-date=August 3, 2008 |date=January 7, 1993 |archive-date=May 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519101016/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19930107&slug=1678641 |url-status=live }}</ref> Pearl Jam received four awards at the 1993 [[MTV Video Music Awards]] for its music video for "Jeremy", including [[MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year|Video of the Year]] and [[MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video|Best Group Video]].<ref name="MTV Award">{{cite web| url=http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/1993/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828202646/http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/1993/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=August 28, 2008 |title=1993 Video Music Awards |publisher=MTV.com |access-date=August 2, 2008}}</ref> ''Ten'' was ranked number 207 on ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine's list of the [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|500 greatest albums of all time]],<ref name="500greatest">{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/features/coverstory/featuregen.asp?pid=2164| title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time| access-date=May 6, 2008| magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614194909/http://www.rollingstone.com/features/coverstory/featuregen.asp%3Fpid%3D2164| archive-date=June 14, 2008| url-status=dead}}</ref> and "Jeremy" was ranked number 11 on [[VH1]]'s list of the 100 greatest songs of the '90s.<ref name="greatest90s">{{cite web
  | url = http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_greatest/127759/episode_featured_copy.jhtml
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071216020506/http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_greatest/127759/episode_featured_copy.jhtml
  | url-status = dead
  | archive-date = December 16, 2007
| publisher = [[VH1]]
  | title = VH1: 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s
  | access-date = August 9, 2008}}</ref>

Following an intense touring schedule, the band went into the studio to record what would become its second studio album, ''[[Vs. (Pearl Jam album)|Vs.]]'', released in 1993. Upon its release, ''Vs.'' set at the time the record for most copies of an album sold in a week,<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://ew.com/article/1993/11/19/pearls-jam/ | title=Pearl's Jam | access-date=August 31, 2007 | magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] | date=November 19, 1993 | first=Nisid | last=Hajari | archive-date=June 7, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607100223/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,308749,00.html | url-status=live }}</ref> and spent five weeks at number one on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]]. ''Vs.'' was nominated for a [[Grammy Award for Best Rock Album]] in 1995.<ref name="latimes">{{cite news
  | url = http://theenvelope.latimes.com/factsheets/awardsdb/env-awards-db-search,0,7169155.htmlstory?searchtype=all&query=pearl+jam
  | title = Awards Database
  | newspaper = [[Los Angeles Times]]
  | access-date = August 2, 2008}}</ref> From ''Vs.'', the song "[[Daughter (song)|Daughter]]" received a Grammy nomination for [[Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal|Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal]] and the song "[[Go (Pearl Jam song)|Go]]" received a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE2DD113CF935A15751C0A963958260 |title=POP VIEW; Playing Grammy Roulette |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |author=Pareles, Jon |access-date=August 3, 2008 | date=February 26, 1995}}</ref>

[[File:MikeMcCready2013.JPG|thumb|180px|left|McCready on stage with Pearl Jam in [[Brooklyn]] on October 18, 2013]]
Feeling the pressures of success, the band decided to decrease the level of promotion for its albums, including refusing to release music videos.<ref>Ashare, Matt. "The Sweet Smell of (Moderate) Success". [[College Music Journal|CMJ]]. July 2000.</ref> In 1994, the band began a much-publicized boycott of [[Ticketmaster]], which lasted for three years and limited the band's ability to tour in the United States.<ref>DeRogatis, Jim. ''Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's''. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2003. {{ISBN|0-306-81271-1}}, pg. 58</ref> Later that same year the band released its third studio album, ''[[Vitalogy]]'', which became the band's third straight album to reach multi-platinum status. The album received Grammy nominations for [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]] and Best Rock Album in 1996.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05EFDA1239F936A35752C0A960958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |title=New Faces in Grammy Nominations |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |author=Strauss, Neil |access-date=August 3, 2008 | date=January 5, 1996}}</ref> ''Vitalogy'' was ranked number 492 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.<ref name="500greatest"/> The lead single "[[Spin the Black Circle]]" won a Grammy Award in 1996 for Best Hard Rock Performance.<ref name="latimes"/> Although Abbruzzese performed on the album ''Vitalogy'', he was fired in August 1994, four months before the album was released.<ref name="tenpast"/> The band cited political differences between Abbruzzese and the other members; for example, he disagreed with the Ticketmaster boycott.<ref name="tenpast"/> He was replaced by [[Jack Irons]], a close friend of Vedder and the former and original drummer of the [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]].<ref name="goldmine"/>

[[File:PearlJam-London2022-01.jpg|thumb|180px|right|McCready on stage with Pearl Jam in London, England, on July 8, 2022]]
The band subsequently released ''[[No Code]]'' in 1996 and ''[[Yield (album)|Yield]]'' in 1998. In 1998, prior to Pearl Jam's U.S. [[Yield Tour]], Irons left the band due to dissatisfaction with touring.<ref name="offhegoes">{{cite magazine | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pearljam/articles/story/5928493/off_he_goes | title=Off He Goes | access-date=June 28, 2007 | author=Fischer, Blair R | magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] | date=April 17, 1998 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002115935/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pearljam/articles/story/5928493/off_he_goes | archive-date=October 2, 2007 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Pearl Jam enlisted former Soundgarden drummer [[Matt Cameron]] as Irons' replacement, initially on a temporary basis,<ref name="offhegoes"/> but he soon became a permanent replacement. "[[Do the Evolution]]" (from ''Yield'') received a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/specials/1999/grammys/bigpicture.html |title=41st annual Grammy nominees and winners |publisher=CNN.com |access-date=August 3, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080613094347/http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/specials/1999/grammys/bigpicture.html |archive-date = June 13, 2008}}</ref> In 1998, Pearl Jam recorded "[[Last Kiss]]", a cover of a 1960s ballad made famous by [[J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers]]. It was released on the band's 1998 fan club Christmas single; however, by popular demand, the cover was released to the public as a single in 1999. "Last Kiss" peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' charts and became the band's highest-charting single.

In 2000, the band released its sixth studio album, ''[[Binaural (album)|Binaural]]'', and initiated a successful and ongoing series of [[Pearl Jam Official Bootlegs|official bootlegs]]. The band released seventy-two such live albums in 2000 and 2001, and set a record for most albums to debut in the ''Billboard'' 200 at the same time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/12055527 |title=Pearl Jam Breaks Its Own Chart Record |access-date=June 28, 2007 |author=Davis, Darren |publisher=[[Yahoo!|Yahoo! Music]] |date=March 7, 2001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060912100129/http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/12055527 |archive-date=September 12, 2006 }}</ref> "[[Grievance (song)|Grievance]]" (from ''Binaural'') received a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1439384/20010214/pearl_jam.jhtml | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010223215253/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1439384/20010214/pearl_jam.jhtml | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 23, 2001 |title=Pearl Jam DVD Compiles Tour Footage |publisher=MTV.com |author=Moss, Corey |access-date=August 3, 2008}}</ref> The band released its seventh studio album, ''[[Riot Act (album)|Riot Act]]'', in 2002. Pearl Jam's contribution to the 2003 film, ''[[Big Fish]]'', "[[Man of the Hour]]", was nominated for a [[Golden Globe Award]] in 2004.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/year/2003 |title=Golden Globes Nominations & Winners |publisher=goldenglobes.org |access-date=February 20, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080201120641/http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/year/2003 |archive-date = February 1, 2008}}</ref> The band's eighth studio album, the eponymous ''[[Pearl Jam (album)|Pearl Jam]]'', was released in 2006. The band followed it with ''[[Backspacer]]'' (2009), ''[[Lightning Bolt (Pearl Jam album)|Lightning Bolt]]'' (2013), and ''[[Gigaton (album)|Gigaton]]'' (2020).