Temple Of The Dog Announces First-Ever Tour

“This is something no one has ever seen,” Cornell said. “We wanted to stop and recognize that we did this and pay homage.”

Soundgarden’s Cornell formed Temple of The Dog in 1990 after writing the songs “Say Hello 2 Heaven” and “Reach Down” while grieving the death of his close friend and roommate, Mother Love Bone frontman Andrew Wood.  

“I was compelled to write them and there they were – written in a vacuum as a tribute to Andy,” Cornell said. “My thought was that maybe I could record these songs with the remaining members of Mother Love Bone and that maybe we could release them as a tribute.”

He added, “Temple was about making an album simply for the joy of doing it. We weren’t concerned what anyone outside of our group of friends would think of it. It was the first and maybe only stress-free album that we all made.”

Along with Mother Love Bone members Stone Gossard on guitar and Jeff Ament on bass, Cornell recruited guitarist Mike McCready and Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron to help out. Eddie Vedder, who was then known as a San Diego singer who was hoping to land the job of Pearl Jam vocalist, contributed backing vocals to three of the tracks on Temple of The Dog’s self-titled debut and shared co-lead vocals with Chris Cornell on the song “Hunger Strike.”

The band’s first and only studio album was released in April 1991 via A&M Records. Vedder, Ament, Gossard, McCready and Cameron went on to form Pearl Jam and the band released its debut, Ten, in August 1991.

Temple Of The Dog is marking the 25th anniversary of the album with a reissue collection. Fans can choose between a four-disc super deluxe edition, a double LP, a two-CD deluxe edition or a single CD. Physical pre-orders are ongoing.   

Although Temple Of The Dog performed a few full shows in Seattle 1990, the band never toured. This will change in November. The five lucky cities getting a visit from TOTD are Upper Darby, Pa.; New York; San Francisco; Inglewood, Calif.; and Seattle.

Nov. 4 – Upper Darby, Pa., Tower Theatre   
Nov. 7 – New York, N.Y., Madison Square Garden Arena
Nov. 11 – San Francisco, Calif., Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
Nov. 14 – Inglewood, Calif., Forum
Nov. 20 – Seattle, Wash., Paramount Theatre

A special presale for fans signed up to the Ten Club or Soundgarden or Chris Cornell email lists is ongoing and runs through July 27. Tickets go on sale to the general public July 29 at 12 p.m. local time. The band is donating $1.50 from each ticket to the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation and $1.50 to Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy Foundation.

You can find the band’s home on the web at TempleOfTheDog.com.

Update: Additional dates have been added at the Tower Theater (Nov. 5), the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium (Nov. 12), and the Paramount Theatre (Nov. 21).