The Best Grunge Music Bands from Seattle

If you’re looking for a list of the best grunge music bands from Seattle, look no further! This blog post will give you all the information you need on the top grunge bands from Seattle.

Nirvana

Nirvana was an American rock band formed in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987. Nirvana went through a succession of drummers, the longest-lasting and best-known being Dave Grohl, who joined the band in 1990. Despite releasing only three full-length studio albums in their seven-year career, Nirvana has come to be regarded as one of the most influential and important alternative rock bands of all time.

Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain was the singer, guitarist, and songwriter for Nirvana, one of the most successful and influential alternative bands of the early ’90s. Nirvana’s breakthrough album Nevermind (1991) featured the band’s biggest hit, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Cobain struggling with fame and his own tumultuous inner demons, committed suicide in 1994 at the age of 27.

Nevermind

Nirvana was an American rock band formed in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987. It was founded by singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic. Nirvana went through a succession of drummers, the longest-lasting and best-known being Dave Grohl, who joined in 1990. Though never commercially successful while they were together, Nirvana has come to be regarded as one of the most influential and important alternative rock bands in history. Their music maintains a popular following and continues to be played on radio stations across the world. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Nirvana number 24 on their list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”, which recognized them as ledgends of not just grunge music but rock as a whole.

Pearl Jam

Eddie Vedder

Eddie Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American musician, multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and one of three main songwriters of the rock band Pearl Jam. He is known for his powerful baritone vocals. He also appeared as a guest vocalist in Temple of the Dog, the one-off tribute to the late singer Andy Wood. In 2007, Vedder released his first solo album as a soundtrack for the film Into the Wild (2007). His second album Ukulele Songs and a live DVD titled Water on the Road were released in 2011.

Vedder will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pearl Jam on April 7, 2017.

Ten

Ten is the second studio album by American rock band Pearl Jam, released on August 27, 1991, through Epic Records. Following the success of their debut album, Ten (1991), Pearl Jam sought to refine their sound while maintaining an anthemic approach to songwriting. Rather than relying on the Seattle grunge scene they had anticipated being part of, the band decided to create a unique sound which incorporated the heaviness of metal with the melodicism of classic rock. Stylistically, Ten is a combination of the band’s punk and hard rock influences from their early days in the Seattle music scene, as well as prog and classic rock.

Alice in Chains

One of the defining music genres of the 90s, grunge, emerged from the rainy city of Seattle. The genre is characterized by its dark and melancholic lyrics, its DIY aesthetic, and its distorted guitars. While the grunge scene was short-lived, it produced some of the most influential rock bands of all time. Here are the best grunge bands from Seattle.

Layne Staley

Layne Thomas Staley (August 22, 1967 – April 5, 2002) was an American musician who served as the lead singer and co-songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains from 1987 until his death in 2002. He was also a member of the grunge supergroup Mad Season. Born and raised in Kirkland, Washington, Staley joined Seattle-based grunge band Alice in Chains as guitarist Jerry Cantrell’s roommate and quickly replaced previous lead singer Lane Stanton. Alice in Chains became one of the most successful rock bands of the early 1990s. By 1992, the band had released two albums, Facelift and Dirt, selling 16 million copies worldwide between them. In 1993, they released their third album, Alice in Chains, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and went on to be certified six-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Staley played a central role in What Happened to Alice In Chains?, appearing alongside his mother Nancy Staley in an episode of VH1’s Behind The Music that aired in 2001. Speaking about his time with Alice in Chains in that program, he said: “I started doing a lot of drugs because I was depressed.” In 1996, Staley entered drug rehabilitation but relapsed several times; despite this he continued working with Alice in Chains on new material for what would become their self-titled third album, which was released early the following year to critical acclaim and commercial success. It reached number three on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified platinum by the RIAA; it has since been certified double platinum.

On April 19, 2002, Staley was found dead at his home from what appeared to be a heroin overdose; however no official cause of death has been determined. He is survived by his mother Nancy McCallum (née Staley) and sister Asha Coley.

Facelift

Facelift is the debut studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains, released on August 21, 1990, through Columbia Records. The album was produced by Dave Jerden. The success of the singles “Man in the Box”, “Sea of Sorrow”, and “We Die Young” helped propel Facelift to join Nirvana’s Nevermind (also produced by Jerden) and Pearl Jam’s Ten atop the Billboard 200 chart of popular releases. Each of the three releases from those grunge bands was issued within a span of less than one year.

The album has been certified quadruple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In 2014, it was ranked as number 90 on Guitar World magazine’s list of Greatest 100 Guitar Albums of All Time.

Soundgarden

Soundgarden was one of the seminal grunge bands from Seattle. They were one of the first grunge bands to sign to a major label and their debut album, Ultramega OK, was released in 1988. Soundgarden’s second album, Louder Than Love, was released in 1989 and was a commercial success. The band’s third album, Badmotorfinger, was released in 1991 and was their first album to be certified gold by the RIAA.

Chris Cornell

Chris Cornell, Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog’s songwriter and lead singer, was one of the architects of the 90s grunge movement. His powerful, unique voice helped to define the sound of an era and influenced a generation of singers.

Born in Seattle in 1964, Cornell began playing music in his teens and started his first band, Soundgarden, in 1984. The band released their debut album Ultramega OK in 1988, followed by Louder Than Love in 1989. These early releases established Soundgarden as one of the leading bands of the burgeoning grunge movement.

Cornell’s breakthrough moment came with the release of Soundgarden’s third album, Badmotorfinger, in 1991. The album’s first single, “Rusty Cage,” was a huge hit and propelled the band to new levels of success. They followed up with the even more successful album Superunknown in 1994, which produced the hits “Spoonman” and “Black Hole Sun.”

Throughout his career, Cornell also pursued solo projects and collaborated with other artists. He released four solo albums between 1999 and 2015, and collaborated with members of Pearl Jam on the side project Temple of the Dog, which released an eponymous album in 1991.

Cornell passed away unexpectedly in 2017 at the age of 52. His death was a shock to the music world and left a lasting void in the grunge community.

Badmotorfinger

Released in 1991, Badmotorfinger was Soundgarden’s third studio album and the first to really capture the band’s signature sound. The album is full of distorted guitars, pounding drums, and dark, brooding lyrics. Standout tracks include “Rusty Cage,” “Outshined,” and “Jesus Christ Pose.”

Temple of the Dog

Temple of the Dog was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1990. The band was a one-off collaboration between members of two of the biggest bands of the grunge movement, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.

Chris Cornell

Chris Cornell, Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog frontman, died on Wednesday night at the age of 52. A representative for the artist said his death was “sudden and unexpected”

Cornell was one of the architects of the grunge movement in the early 1990s, alongside bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains. He formed Soundgarden in 1984 with bassist Hiro Yamamoto and drummer Scott Sundquist, later adding guitarist Kim Thayil. The band released its debut album, Ultramega OK, in 1988, followed by Louder Than Love in 1989.

In 1990, Cornell collaborated with Pearl Jam members Mike McCready, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament on the one-off project Temple of the Dog, which was conceived as a tribute to late Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood. The group recorded a self-titled album that featured future Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder on several tracks; it was not released until April 1991, after Mother Love Bone’s debut album Apple had come out.

Temple of the Dog also included Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, who would go on to join Pearl Jam.

Matt Cameron

Matt Cameron is best known as the drummer of Pearl Jam, but he was also a member of the hugely influential grunge band Temple of the Dog. He joined Temple of the Dog after the death of their singer, Andy Wood, and played on their only album, which was released in 1991. The album was a tribute to Wood, and featured songs about his death and its aftermath. It is considered to be one of the best grunge albums ever made.