Mike McCready

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

McCready's early musical life began at age eleven when he purchased his first guitar and started lessons. In eighth grade he formed his first band, Warrior, later renamed Shadow, which played covers at Roosevelt High School before writing original material. After high school, Shadow moved to Los Angeles in 1986 seeking a record deal but failed. McCready recalled: 'We played to a couple bartenders down there... Basically, we weren't that good of a band.' The band returned to Seattle in 1988 and split up. Depressed, McCready cut his hair, enrolled in community college, and worked at a video store. He credits friend Russ Riedner for getting him back into playing guitar, and a Stevie Ray Vaughan concert at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington inspired him to pick up the guitar again. McCready said: '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.' He joined Love Chile, where childhood friend Stone Gossard saw him perform and later asked McCready to play music together. After practicing for a few months, McCready encouraged Gossard to reconnect with Jeff Ament.

In Their Own Story

The trio of McCready, Gossard, and Ament were attempting to form their own band when they were invited to join the Temple of the Dog project, founded by Soundgarden's Chris Cornell as a tribute to Mother Love Bone frontman Andrew Wood. This was McCready's first recording studio experience. He performed an epic four-minute-plus solo for 'Reach Down'. According to Cornell, McCready's headphone monitors flew off halfway through recording the solo, and he played the rest without hearing the backing track. McCready considers this track one of his proudest moments. The project also featured Eddie Vedder, who had come to Seattle to audition as singer for Ament and Gossard's next band. Temple of the Dog was released through A&M Records in April 1991. Pearl Jam was formed in 1990 by Ament, Gossard, and McCready, who then recruited Vedder and drummer Dave Krusen. Originally named Mookie Blaylock, the band changed its name when signing to Epic Records in 1991. After Ten was completed, Krusen left in May 1991, replaced by Matt Chamberlain, then Dave Abbruzzese. Ten broke the band into the mainstream and became one of the best-selling alternative albums of the 1990s. The single 'Jeremy' received Grammy nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Hard Rock Performance in 1993. Pearl Jam received four awards at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards for the 'Jeremy' video, including Video of the Year. Ten was ranked number 207 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Vs., released in 1993, set the record for most copies sold in a week and spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard 200. Vitalogy, released in 1994, received Grammy nominations for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album in 1996, and was ranked number 492 on Rolling Stone's 500 greatest albums list. The lead single 'Spin the Black Circle' won a Grammy in 1996 for Best Hard Rock Performance. Abbruzzese was fired in August 1994 and replaced by Jack Irons. The band subsequently released No Code (1996), Yield (1998), Binaural (2000), Riot Act (2002), Pearl Jam (2006), Backspacer (2009), Lightning Bolt (2013), and Gigaton (2020). In 1998, Irons left and was replaced by Matt Cameron. 'Last Kiss', a cover released as a single in 1999, peaked at number two on the Billboard charts, becoming the band's highest-charting single.

Reader's Guide

During the production of Vitalogy, McCready went into rehabilitation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he met bassist John Baker Saunders of The Lamont Cranston Band. In 1994, when the two returned to Seattle, they formed a side band, The Gacy Bunch, with vocalist Layne Staley of Alice in Chains and drummer Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees. After several live shows, they changed their name to Mad Season. The band released the album Above through Columbia Records in 1995, and are best known for the single 'River of Deceit'. The band broke up following Saunders' death in 1999 due to a heroin overdose. Staley passed away three years later in 2002, of an apparent overdose of heroin. McCready was also a member of the side project bands Flight to Mars, Temple of the Dog, and The Rockfords.

Did You Know?

• McCready's first recording studio experience was with his band Shadow and with Love Chile, prior to his work with Temple of the Dog.
• He was inspired to pick up guitar again after attending a Stevie Ray Vaughan concert at The Gorge Amphitheatre where rain started and stopped exactly with the song 'Couldn't Stand the Weather'.
• McCready formed his first band, Warrior (later Shadow), in eighth grade, playing covers during free periods at Roosevelt High School.
• He worked at a pizza restaurant after high school where he befriended musician Pete Droge.
• McCready was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 as a member of Pearl Jam.