Mike McCready

Grunge's great lead guitarist, channeling Hendrix fire into anthems

Mike McCready was born in Pensacola, Florida, and raised in Seattle, where he fell for hard rock as a boy and formed the band Shadow with school friends. Shadow played the local club circuit and even tried their luck in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s before splitting up. Back in Seattle and discouraged, McCready briefly drifted away from music, but a renewed love of blues guitar, especially the playing of Stevie Ray Vaughan, pulled him back and sharpened the expressive lead style he would become known for.

Around 1990 his friend Stone Gossard heard him play and invited him to jam with bassist Jeff Ament, who were regrouping after the collapse of Mother Love Bone. With singer Eddie Vedder and a drummer, the group became Pearl Jam. McCready also played on Temple of the Dog, Chris Cornell's tribute project to the late Andrew Wood. Pearl Jam's 1991 debut Ten became a massive success, and his solos on songs like Alive and Even Flow made him the most prominent lead guitarist of the grunge era.

In 1994, while in rehab, McCready met bassist John Baker Saunders, and together with Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin and Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley they formed Mad Season. The group's lone album, Above, arrived in 1995 and is remembered as a haunting, blues-soaked record. Meanwhile Pearl Jam kept evolving through Vs., Vitalogy, No Code and Yield, and McCready's playing broadened from wah-drenched fury to tender, melodic textures.

Through the 2000s and beyond, McCready remained a mainstay of a band that became one of rock's great live acts, recording albums such as Backspacer, Lightning Bolt, Gigaton and Dark Matter. He has spoken openly about his Crohn's disease and addiction recovery, supporting charitable causes connected to both. In 2017 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pearl Jam, and he has also played in side projects including a UFO tribute band and the Rockfords.

The 10 greatest Mike McCready solos

1. 1
   Alive

   Pearl Jam · solo by Mike McCready · 1991
2. 2
   Yellow Ledbetter

   Pearl Jam · solo by Mike McCready · 1992
3. 3
   Even Flow

   Pearl Jam · solo by Mike McCready · 1991
4. 4
   Black

   Pearl Jam · solo by Mike McCready · 1991
5. 5
   Reach Down

   Temple of the Dog · solo by Mike McCready · 1991
6. 6
   Given to Fly

   Pearl Jam · solo by Mike McCready · 1997
7. 7
   Corduroy

   Pearl Jam · solo by Mike McCready · 1994
8. 8
   Present Tense

   Pearl Jam · solo by Mike McCready · 1996
9. 9
   I Don't Know Anything

   Mad Season · solo by Mike McCready · 1995
10. 10
    Inside Job

    Pearl Jam · solo by Mike McCready · 2006

The sound

McCready is a feel-first lead player rooted in blues and 1970s hard rock. His solos flow in long, singing lines that swing between pentatonic runs, aggressive string bends and sudden bursts of speed, often taking off beyond the song's original frame when Pearl Jam plays live. He leans on the Stratocaster's glassy snap, adding wah and overdrive for heat, and his vibrato and expressive phrasing carry clear traces of Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. On record he often plays the emotional counterpart to Stone Gossard's rhythmic riffs, turning a verse into a climax.

• Vintage Fender Stratocaster (early 1960s) (guitar) His prized main Strat, the basis for his later signature model.
• Fender Mike McCready Stratocaster (guitar) A signature model modeled on his worn vintage Strat.
• Gibson Les Paul (guitar) Used for thicker, heavier tones on record and on stage.
• Wah-wah pedal (effect) A key ingredient in his Hendrix-inspired lead sound, heard throughout Pearl Jam's early work.
• Overdrive and fuzz pedals (effect) Used to push his Stratocaster tones into searing solo territory.

Covers

• Masters of War, originally by Bob Dylan McCready backed Eddie Vedder on a stark, intense reading at the Dylan tribute concert.
• Last Kiss, originally by Wayne Cochran A loose, affectionate cover that unexpectedly became one of Pearl Jam's biggest hits.
• Crazy Mary, originally by Victoria Williams A slow-building version that ends with one of his most expansive live-style solos.
• Rockin' in the Free World, originally by Neil Young A long-running encore where McCready unleashes his wildest playing.
• Baba O'Riley, originally by The Who A joyful concert favorite that shows the band's devotion to classic rock.

Timeline

• 1966 Born in Pensacola, Florida; later raised in Seattle
• 1990 Joins Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament in what becomes Pearl Jam
• 1991 Plays on Temple of the Dog and Pearl Jam's debut Ten
• 1992 Pearl Jam record MTV Unplugged as Ten explodes
• 1994 Forms Mad Season after meeting John Baker Saunders in rehab
• 1995 Mad Season release their only album, Above
• 1998 Writes the music for Pearl Jam's Given to Fly on Yield
• 2017 Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Pearl Jam
• 2020 Pearl Jam release Gigaton
• 2024 Pearl Jam release Dark Matter

Facts

1. McCready was born in Florida but grew up in Seattle.
2. His teenage band Shadow tried to make it in Los Angeles before breaking up.
3. He has acknowledged that his famous Alive solo was modeled on Ace Frehley's solo in the Kiss song She.
4. Mad Season formed after he met bassist John Baker Saunders in a rehab program.
5. Mad Season included Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley and Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin.
6. He has spoken publicly about living with Crohn's disease and supports related charities.
7. Yellow Ledbetter was first released as a B-side yet became one of Pearl Jam's best-loved songs.
8. He played on Temple of the Dog, the tribute record to Andrew Wood led by Chris Cornell.
9. He has led a UFO tribute band called Flight to Mars for benefit shows.
10. Fender has issued a signature Stratocaster based on his own vintage instrument.