Mat Hayward/Getty Images When Pearl Jam is inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame next year, they'll become the second band from the iconic '90s grunge era to be enshrined in the museum, following Nirvana. If it were up to Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil, though, he might have inducted Eddie Vedder and company first.
"I would imagine if you had to think of all the bands that came out of Seattle, out of our scene, the first band I would think of would be Pearl Jam, and the next one I would've said should be Nirvana," Thayil tells Billboard.
"Now, of course, rock 'n' roll journalists have a different perspective; they put Nirvana in first because of the cultural impact," he continues. "But I'd put Pearl Jam on top of that list. They're certainly one of the hugest bands in the world, most successful bands, very influential. And obviously Pearl Jam has the greater body of work and greater longevity."
As for Soundgarden's own Rock & Roll Hall of Fame chances, Thayil isn't too concerned one way or the other.
"I almost never think about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame," he says. "It wasn't part of my experience growing up. There wasn't one, so I didn't think of the bands that I loved in terms of a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. And it's an odd thing, because it doesn't measure some quantifiable attribute of, say, a baseball hall of fame or a basketball hall of fame."
"I don't think of creative pursuits as something that's quantifiable," Thayil adds. "Record companies do, of course, but I don't think fans and certainly musicians think that way. So that makes it an odd kind of thing to wrap your head around, which is why it's probably best left alone, you know?"
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