Temple of the Dog

Temple of the Dog was a one-off hard rock tribute band/album that was put together by Chris Cornell (singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave). The lineup of the band featured Matt Cameron (then Soundgarden drummer) and members of what would become Pearl Jam, including Mike McCready (guitar), Jeff Ament (bass), Stone Gossard (guitar), and Eddie Vedder providing mostly background vocals.

The band was a tribute to Andrew Wood, the singer for the band Mother Love Bone and Cornell's roomate, who died of a heroin overdose on March 19, 1990. Ament and Gossard were both members of Mother Love Bone, and the band name was taken from the lyrics of one of M.L.B.'s songs.

The tribute album spawned a hit song in "Hunger Strike," a song that ended up being a duet between Cornell and Vedder. The song was re-released after Pearl Jam scored a huge hit with their album Ten in 1992, and Temple of the Dog went platinum shortly thereafter.