50 years ago today (1/8/66), Andrew Wood, the spirited lead singer for Malfunkshun and then later Mother Love Bone was born. Wood passed away 3/19/90, which allowed for Mother Love Bone members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament to go on and form Pearl Jam. Wood, a big Freddie Mercury/Marc Bolan fan helped mold the flamboyance of the hard rock era into the grittier grunge era that would soon follow. In the year following his death, Wood’s former roommate Chris Cornell of Soundgarden wrote two songs, “Reach Down” and “Say Hello 2 Heaven”, in tribute to his late friend. Cornell then approached Gossard and Ament about releasing the songs as singles before collaborating on an album. Adding drummer Matt Cameron, future Pearl Jam lead guitarist Mike McCready, and future Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder, they formed Temple of the Dog in 1990 to pay tribute to Wood. Watch the video for Mother Love Bone’s “Holy Roller” with Wood on lead vocals – clearly not shy in front of the camera.
