Pearl Jam Discography

Pearl Jam Discography

The discography of Pearl Jam, a Seattle, Washington-based alternative rock band, consists of nine studio albums, eight live albums, two compilation albums, twenty-eight singles, and numerous official bootlegs.

Pearl Jam was formed in 1990 by bassist Jeff Ament, guitarist Stone Gossard, and guitarist Mike McCready, who then recruited vocalist Eddie Vedder and drummer Dave Krusen. The band signed to Epic Records in 1991. A few months after the completion of the band's debut studio album, Ten, drummer Dave Abbruzzese joined the band. Ten broke Pearl Jam into the mainstream, and became one of the best-selling alternative albums of the 1990s. Following an intense touring schedule, the band went into the studio to record what would become its second studio album, Vs. Upon its release, Vs. set the record for most copies of an album sold in a week, and spent five weeks at the top of the Billboard 200. Burdened by the pressures of success, Pearl Jam decided to decrease the level of promotion for its albums, including refusing to release music videos. In 1994, the band released its third studio album, Vitalogy, which became the band's third straight album to reach multi-platinum status.

Following Abbruzzese's exit in 1994, drummer Jack Irons joined the band. Pearl Jam subsequently released No Code in 1996 and Yield in 1998. The band once again changed drummers in 1998, with Irons being replaced by former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, who had previously worked with the members of Pearl Jam in the Temple of the Dog project. Cameron has remained as Pearl Jam's drummer ever since. In 1998, Pearl Jam released "Last Kiss" on the band's fan club Christmas single; however, by popular demand, the cover was released to the public as a single in 1999. "Last Kiss" became the band's highest-charting single, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2000, Pearl Jam released its sixth studio album, Binaural, and initiated a series of "official bootlegs" of live albums. The band released seventy-two such live albums in 2000 and 2001, and set a record for most albums to debut in the Billboard 200 at the same time. The band's seventh studio album, 2002's Riot Act, was their last for Epic. After a one-record deal with J Records in 2006 for the distribution of their eighth studio album, the eponymous Pearl Jam, the band started releasing through self-owned label Monkeywrench Records, starting with their ninth studio album, Backspacer, in 2009. Since its inception, Pearl Jam has sold over thirty million records in the US, and an estimated sixty million worldwide.