The drummer Matt Cameron first achieved fame as a member of Soundgarden, band he joined in 1986, two years after they were formed in Seattle, Washington. In 1991 he was also part of the supergroup Temple of The Dog, which was formed by him, Chris Cornell and Pearl Jam members.
In 1997 Soundgarden came to an end and one year later he joined Pearl Jam. He was a member of the band until 2025 when he decided to leave. He explained in an interview with Billboard that the main reason why he decided to leave was their three-hour concerts.
Matt Cameron explains why he decided to leave Pearl Jam
“I was having some issues with (Pearl Jam’s) three-hour shows and constant touring and stuff. That’s definitely an art form unto itself, to be able to do those types of shows…I’m at a point now where I want to do a face-melting 70-minute set, and that’s kind of what I’m focusing on right now. I definitely gave them a lot of notice. I’ve spoken with Jeff and Stone a little bit…It’s been fine. Hopefully we’ll get back together at some point and have a beer or something,” Matt Cameron said.
During the same conversation he talked about Soundgarden’s upcoming studio albums with Chris Cornell vocals. “There’s not a set release date or anything as of yet. There were a couple schools of thought, like, ‘Hey, let’s put out a single.’ I think eventually we decided we want to make sure the whole thing is completed before we start releasing singles. I’m excited for people to hear it. We’re definitely over halfway done with it. Kim is in the process of finishing his guitar parts; he wants to make sure they get exactly the way he wants them,” he said.
In Pearl Jam, Cameron was part of the albums: “Binaural” (2000), “Riot Act” (2002) “Pearl Jam” (2006), “Backspacer” (2009), “Lightning Bolt” (2013), “Gigaton” (2020) and “Dark Matter” (2024).