When Soundgarden is inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the grunge icons are hoping to honor their hometown of Seattle.
“We wanted to keep it as Seattle-centric as possible and include some people that were there with us in the beginning,” drummer Matt Cameron tells The Seattle Times of Soundgarden’s plans for the ceremony.
The Seattle musicians taking part include Pearl Jam‘s Mike McCready, Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains, Heart‘s Nancy Wilson and Brandi Carlile. Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless, a non-Seattleite but noted Soundgarden superfan, will also be involved.
“To have our peers, friends and creative collaborators from [Seattle] share that with us is very important,” says guitarist Kim Thayil. “It’s very important because it’s part of our identity.”
“We’re not simply ‘rock guys’ in this band Soundgarden,” he continues. “We’re rock guys in this band Soundgarden that helped establish the Seattle scene and the sound. The geography is very important to our identity. It’s where we are, it’s where we came from. It’s who we are.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Cameron and Thayil speak on the upcoming final Soundgarden album, which will include recordings frontman Chris Cornell left behind prior to his death in 2017.
“It’s a way to post tribute to our beloved brother,” Thayil says. “All of it just has that much more weight emotionally and creatively, and we don’t take that lightly.”
The 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony takes place Nov. 8 in Los Angeles and will stream live on Disney+. Other inductees include The White Stripes, Bad Company, Joe Cocker, Outkast, Cyndi Lauper and Chubby Checker.
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