Stone Gossard

Stone Carpenter Gossard (born July 20, 1966) is an American musician who serves as a guitarist for the rock band Pearl Jam.

Along with Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of the band.

Gossard is also known for his work prior to Pearl Jam with the Seattle-based grunge bands Green River and Mother Love Bone.

Gossard was also a member of the bands Temple of the Dog and Brad.

In addition to his performing career, he has been active in the music industry as a producer and the owner of a record label and recording studio.

The band released the EP Come on Down in 1985 and followed it up with Dry As a Bone in 1987, the first non-compilation release from Sub Pop records.

The band's only full-length studio album, Rehab Doll, was released in 1988.

In-fighting within the band led to the group's break-up during the recording of Rehab Doll.

A stylistic division had developed between Ament and Gossard on one side, and Arm on the other.

Ament and Gossard wanted to pursue a major-label deal, while Arm wanted to remain independent, viewing the duo as being too careerist.

The band achieved a considerable local reputation in Seattle and had a significant influence on the genre later known as grunge, with Green River being described as "arguably the first grunge band."

Following Green River's dissolution, Gossard established Mother Love Bone in 1988 along with former Green River members Ament and Fairweather, former Malfunkshun frontman Andrew Wood, and former Ten Minute Warning and Skin Yard drummer Greg Gilmore.

The band quickly worked on recording and performing locally and by late 1988 had become one of Seattle's more promising bands.

In early 1989 the band signed to PolyGram subsidiary Mercury Records.

In March of that year the group issued its debut EP, Shine.

In late 1989 the group returned to the studio to record its debut studio album, Apple.

It was planned for a March 1990 release.

Only days before the release of Apple, however, frontman Wood, who had a long history with drug problems, overdosed on heroin.

After spending a few days in the hospital in a coma, Wood died, effectively bringing Mother Love Bone to an end.

Apple would see release later that year.

Gossard reacquainted himself with childhood friend Mike McCready after watching McCready jam with a local band called Love Chile and being impressed with his work.

Gossard had known McCready from before high school when the two would trade rock band pictures with each other.

After the demise of Mother Love Bone, he asked McCready if he wanted to play music with him.

After a few months of practicing together, McCready in turn encouraged Gossard to reconnect with Ament.

The trio were attempting to form their own band when they were invited to be part of the Temple of the Dog project founded by Soundgarden's Chris Cornell as a musical tribute to Wood.

Cornell had been Wood's roommate.

He released his first solo album Bayleaf in 2001; his second, Moonlander, followed in 2013.

Gossard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pearl Jam in 2017.

Gossard was born in Seattle to David W. Gossard Jr. and Mary Carolyn Carpenter.

His father was a lawyer and his mother worked in the Seattle city government.

He has two sisters, Star Leslie Dirette and Shelly Joan Gossard.

Gossard attended the Northwest Boarding School in Seattle.

The first band Gossard joined was March of Crimes, a band of which future Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd was a member, as was novelist Jonathan Evison.

Although Gossard's time with the band was brief, it introduced him to the emerging music scene in Seattle.

Gossard formed a close friendship with fellow guitarist (and future Mudhoney member) Steve Turner, who also had attended the Northwest School, and joined Turner in his band The Ducky Boys.

Turner's interest in punk rock had a significant influence on Gossard, and in turn on the ethos of the band.

Turner went on to form Green River with vocalist/guitarist Mark Arm, drummer Alex Vincent and bassist Jeff Ament.

Gossard was asked to join Green River in order to allow Arm to concentrate exclusively on singing.

By the time the band finished the recording of its debut EP, Come on Down, Turner decided to leave the group, citing his distaste with Ament and Gossard's heavy metal leanings.

He was replaced by Ament's former Deranged Diction bandmate, Bruce Fairweather.