Temple of the Dog reunites to play 25th-anniversary shows

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Temple of the Dog,
Temple of the Dog, back in the day

The year was 1990 and the term “grunge” still pertained to that ring of schmutz around your bathtub. A group of Seattle musicians, longtime friends spread across two different bands, decided to make an album in the wake of a tragic loss. That self-titled album, “Temple of the Dog,” attained a surprising and legendary status upon its release in 1991.

Twenty-five years later, the members of that project — Chris Cornell from Soundgarden. along with Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard and Mike McCready, and drummer Matt Cameron (who pounds skins for both acts) — are getting together for a tour across five November dates.

Temple of the Dog came to be following the tragic death of Andrew Wood, who was Cornell’s roommate. Wanting to create a tribute to his fallen friend, he recruited Ament and Gossard from the ashes of Wood’s band, Mother Love Bone. McCready and Cameron were brought into the recording as well as a then-unknown singer from San Diego named Eddie Vedder. These were the seeds of what was to become a band called Pearl Jam.

Tickets for the Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle dates will go on sale at noon July 29. A “Temple of the Dog” 25th anniversary reissue collection of their album, newly mixed by Brendan O’Brien, will be released Sept. 30.

||| Live: Temple of the Dog plays the Forum on Nov. 14. Tickets ($88) go on sale July 29.