'90s Rock Band, With Classic Radio Anthem, Ranked Among 'Best Supergroups' of All Time
In the early 1990s, an all-star rock band dominated the charts and later cemented its legacy as one of the "best supergroups" of all time.
BBC Music named the top 23 best rock supergroups, with Temple of the Dog ranking in the top 10.
The group was formed in 1990 in Seattle, Washington and featured core members from notable bands including Audioslave and Soundgarden. Chris Cornell served as lead vocalist while former Mother Love Bone and later Pearl Jam members Stone Gossard on rhythm guitar and Jeff Ament on bass, Pearl Jam's Mike McCready on lead guitar and Soundgarden's Matt Cameron on drums completed the lineup.
Cornell, who was the conceptual force and founder of the rock band, launched the group as a tribute to his late friend and roommate Andrew Wood, the frontman of Mother Love Bone, who passed away from an overdose.
With his love and devotion for a dear friend, the vocalist created a supergroup known for its powerful music and the classic radio anthem "Hunger Strike."
Released in 1991 as the lead single from their self-titled debut album, the song was a major hit and is considered an iconic grunge anthem of the era.
Cornell was joined by then-unknown Eddie Vedder for a duet, sparking Temple of the Dog into a mainstream breakthrough in the summer of 1992.
Although the band did not achieve the immediate breakthrough, the supergroup found commercial success with "Hunger Strike," which peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock and No. 1 on the US Billboard Modern Rock charts while also cracking the top 50 in Canada and the top 60 in the U.K.
The delayed success also helped their debut album surpass 1 million copies in sales and earn a Platinum certification from the RIAA.
In a previous interview, Cornell recalled how the famous duet was formed due to pure coincidence.
At the time, Vedder, who had just arrived in Seattle for his first rehearsal, stepped up after noticing the frontman's struggle to reach a vocal part.
"I feel this shadow presence over my shoulder," the lead vocalist told Pearl Jam Twenty, as cited by Louder, adding , "And there's only one mic, and the chorus comes around again, and he sort of moves his shoulder in just to let me know he's got a plan. And I don't know him. We had said hi… So he hit the "Going hungry," I sang the high part and then he hit it again. All of a sudden, a lightbulb went off in my head and I thought, ‘Fuck, his voice sounds incredible in that deep register.'"
With Vedder and Cornell singing together, they made the song a powerhouse single, prompting A&M Records to re-promote the track, fueling renewed attention and it eventually became a classic radio anthem.
Related: '90s Rocker From Iconic Supergroup Ranked Among ‘Best Vocalists of All Time'
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This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 6:46 PM.