Pearl Jam Buy Andrew Wood’s Mother a New Home
As we reported back in December, Pearl Jam members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament launched a GoFundMe campaign with the goal of raising $50,000 to buy a new home for Toni Wood, mother of deceased Mother Love Bone vocalist Andrew Wood (pictured above).
The GoFundMe campaign raised $36,000 in donations from fans, while Pearl Jam members and Mother Love Bone's former manager contributed an additional $40,000.
According to Seattle-area newspaper Kitsap Sun, Toni Wood's "face beamed" as she gave a tour of her new Bainbridge Island home, located adjacent to the trailer she was living in that Pearl Jam described as "dilapidated."
A quick brush-up on grunge and Seattle history: Gossard and Ament were bandmates of Wood's in Mother Love Bone. Wood was also a roommate and close friend of Soundgarden bandleader Chris Cornell. Wood's death by heroin overdose precipitated the one-off Temple of the Dog collaboration between Gossard, Ament, Cornell, Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, future Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready and then-unknown singer Eddie Vedder.
Temple of the Dog's one and only self-titled album was recorded in 1990 -- prior to Pearl Jam's recording of their debut, Ten, and Soundgarden's recording of their breakthrough, Badmotorfinger. The record was released in 1991, but fans may recall that "Hunger Strike" became a runaway hit the following year, when A&M records gave the music a renewed push in the wake of Pearl Jam's meteoric rise to popularity and Badmotorfinger reaching double-platinum status.
The rest, as they say ...