Temple of the Dog Reunite at Pearl Jam's Los Angeles Concert

Pearl Jam's concert last night at Los Angeles' Gibson Amphitheatre became the scene of a brief Temple of the Dog reunion, as Chris Cornell joined the Backspacer band for a rendition of the 1991 hit "Hunger Strike," EW reports. The performance unified all the principal members of Temple of the Dog — Cornell, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Matt Cameron, Mike McCready and background vocalist Eddie Vedder — for the first time since 2003, when these superpowers of Seattle grunge also teamed up in California to perform "Hunger Strike" and "Reach Down."

But wait, there's more: Rolling Stone has learned that the other members of Soundgarden — guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Ben Shepherd — came to the show with Cornell to check out their drummer Matt Cameron pounding the skins with his new band. The pow-wow represents the first time the full band has been seen publicly together in more than a decade. RS recently spoke with Thayil about the potential of a Soundgarden reunion and the possibility of fans getting their hands on scores of unreleased tracks.

Check out photos of more supergroups, from Cream to Them Crooked Vultures.

Temple of the Dog was a one-off tribute band that formed following the death of Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood. Cornell was roommates with Wood, while Gossard and Ament were members of Mother Love Bone before ultimately forming Pearl Jam in the wake of Wood's death. Vedder, then just hired to front Pearl Jam, contributed background vocals and split lead-singing duties on "Hunger Strike" to Temple of the Dog's lone album.

If the above performance and the members of Soundgarden in the audience weren't grungetastic enough, Pearl Jam had one more Seattle surprise in store for Los Angeles: Pearl Jam also welcomed out Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell during "Alive," with McCready abandoning his guitar so Cantrell could slay the solo. According to EW, at the end of the show, everyone involved bowed arm in arm to the audience.

Watch fan footage of "Alive" below:

Related Stories:
• Flashback: Mother Love Bone at the 1989 Bumbershoot Festival
• Pearl Jam Rule Austin City Limits With Ferocious Closing Set Featuring Ben Harper, Perry Farrell
• Soundgarden Beyond the Upside: Photos

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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