Pearl Jam is one of the greatest bands of all time in the music of the United States and also one of the main heads of the Grunge movement of the early 90s.
Today it would be practically impossible to understand that musical movement without the presence of this band from Seattle, which has crossed the barrier of time and with a career spanning more than 30 years, is still as relevant as its first days.
But behind the band led by Eddie Vedder, there is a history of basketball afternoons, rehearsals and the search for a name that would position them as one of the best bands of its kind.
Around the end of the 80s, Pop began to give way to other musical currents and although it began to be an underground movement, little by little it gained space until it reached the top, something that began simply being called Alternative Rock and that became the ‘Grunge’.
This is where Eddie Vedder enters the scene, who in addition to having a great passion for music, spent time surfing from time to time and most of the time, playing basketball.
A fan of the Seattle Sonics, like many of the members of the band, but an admirer of the great NBA players and in particular of one who stood out for his ability on the court, his way of defending and his speed in advance, we are speaking of Daron Oshay Blaylock, ‘Mookie’ for friends.
Antes of Pearl Jam, Mookie Blaylock
Hence, when he began to form the band with Mike McGready, everything was going very well but something fundamental was missing, the name. And after several weeks of rehearsing and recording some demos, they had no better idea than to put a Mookie Blaylock card that Vedder had on the cover of the cassette, and that’s how they began to use that name to be able to play in different bars around the world. Seattle.
The influence of the NBA player was so strong among the members of the band that in their first stage they carried that name and even opened the concert of well-known bands of that time such as Alice in Chains.
To be exact, on October 22, 1990, the group officially debuted and even now, there are collectors who treasure that mythical Alice in Chains concert poster and opening band, ‘Mookie Blaylock’.
Jeff Ament reppin ‘. 🏀
📸: Michael Kravetsky pic.twitter.com/SndUSjhhTA
— Pearl Jam 🇺🇦 (@PearlJam) May 26, 2022
However, when the band began to be successful, it caught the attention of not only the fans, but also some record labels until finally the record label Epic Records signed them to release their first album.
It was then that the differences began because the people from the record company did not think it was a good idea for them to call the New Jersey Nets basketball player, so together with the team of Epic lawyers, they convinced Vedder and the rest of the band to change the name.
But in order not to leave aside the influence of Mookie Blaklock, they decided to title their first album with the number of the jersey that the NBA star was wearing in those days: Ten
In August 1991, Pearl Jam presented ‘Ten’, an album that in a short time reached a significant number of sales and that today, 31 years later, is one of the best of all time.
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