biography

A Totally Unofficial (and Short) Biography of Stone Gossard

By Amy McNamara

Stone Carpenter Gossard was born July 20, 1966 in Seattle, Washington. He has two sisters, Star and Shelley.

In 1980, Stone met Steve Turner (Mudhoney) and Jeff Covell at the Northwest School of Arts. That year he was hired/fired from his first band, March of Crimes with Ben Shepherd (Soundgarden). Later he joined the Ducky Boys with Steve & Jeff Covell.

Four years later he joined Green River with Steve Turner and Mark Arm (Mudhoney) and Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam). They lasted from 1984 to 1987. A year after Green River broke up, Stone joined Lords of the Wasteland which would later be named Mother Love Bone. MLB included Jeff Ament, Bruce Fairweather, Greg Gilmore, and Andrew Wood. They were soon signed to Polyram Records and started work on their first album. Two weeks before the release of Apple, on March 24, 1990, lead singer Andy Wood died of a herion overdose. MLB broke up as a result of the painful loss.

Still not ready to stop rockin, Stone teamed up with long-time friend & bandmate Jeff Ament to start anew. They recruit drummer Dave Krusen, Mike McCready for the lead guitarist gig, and San Diego surfer dude Eddie Vedder for vocals to form Mookie Blaylock. They are later renamed Pearl Jam. That year the band (minus drummer Dave Krusen) also takes part in the Temple of the Dog "tribute album" for Andy, featuring Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) and Matt Cameron (Soundgarden). Stone, Eddie, and Jeff also star in Cameron Crowe's "Singles," released in 1992 and still a cult favorite among Pearl Jam fans.

And you know the rest... ;)