Chris Cornell's Death Affected Pearl Jam Recording a New Album

It's been over six years since Pearl Jam released their 10th studio album, Lightning Boltand though they'd love to bring another album into the world the recording process has become tricky, especially after the death of their good friend Chris Cornell. 

“It’d be fun to record or even just write a song together,” bassist Jeff Ament told Rolling Stone in a recent interview. “I think when Chris passed, that’s really been a tough one to wrap our heads around, and then there’s just life stuff.”

The bands' histories are incredibly intertwined. Pearl Jam's drummer Matt Cameron played in Soundgarden, and all the members were in Temple of the Dog with Cornell before forming their own band. Ament, Cameron and guitarist Stone Gossard all participated in the recent tribute concert that took place in Los Angeles last week, and Ament also served as creative director on the Chris Cornell box set.

“That was hard,” he admitted. “[Chris’ widow] Vicky [Cornell] had asked me to get involved with it, and over the course of the years, Chris would often reach out. I remember with the Audioslave record and a couple of his solo records, he would send me the artwork. Even the last solo record, I mocked up some ideas. I think he appreciated my sensibilities when it came to that stuff. So it was pretty hard to go down that path, creating that stuff and listening to the music. It’s just another reminder that he’s not here, and that just sucks. It really sucks.”

Though it's been a tough couple years, the Seattle rockers are ready to make new music. “We’re going to make a record, and we’re in the middle of it,” Gossard said. “We’re just going to keep plugging away until we get one done.”

“We’ve gone in, probably, four or five times in the last couple of years, so we have a whole ton of unfinished stuff,” Ament explained. “We’re just sort of in a little bit of limbo. I’m sure everybody’s got a bunch more riffs, and I’m sure Ed’s got a handful of journal lyrics. It’s just going to take us all getting into a room together for six weeks and just knocking something out.”

Though we're unsure if this means we'll get a new album from Pearl Jam this year, it's exciting to know they're eager to start making music again.

Photo: Getty Images


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