Bassist Allegedly Shoots Down SOUNDGARDEN Reunion Rumors

June 25, 2009

The Pulse of Radio reports: Ex-SOUNDGARDEN bassist Ben Shepherd allegedly commented on recent rumors that the band was planning to reunite through a text sent to a reader of music industry news site The Daily Swarm. Speculation about a reunion got kicked up a notch last week thanks to an interview in England with SHINEDOWN singer Brent Smith, who said that "someone specifically in (SOUNDGARDEN's) organization" had told him that the reunion was on. Why Smith was the beneficiary of this information was left unexplained, but when asked by text whether he knew SHINEDOWN or had anything to say about a reunion, Shepherdreportedly wrote, "No to knowing about whatever band and that guy should go fuck himself for cashing in on our name as well as saying things he doesnt know."

There's been no confirmation, however, that the author of the text message was actually Shepherd, making this even more confusing.

Shepherd, drummer Matt Cameron and guitarist Kim Thayil did stage a partial reunion at a recent Tom Morello show in Seattle, playing a handful of SOUNDGARDEN songs with Tad Doyle singing.

Cameron now plays in PEARL JAM, while frontman Chris Cornell has worked with AUDIOSLAVE and as a solo artist since SOUNDGARDEN broke up in 1997.

Kerrang!'s interview with Brent Smith can be viewed below.

An inside source told The Pulse of Radio a couple of months ago that a SOUNDGARDEN reunion tour was in the works for the summer of 2010, and that all four members of the band were tentatively interested.

SOUNDGARDEN broke up in 1997 after a five-album, 12-year career. The group was one of the key acts of the Seattle "grunge" scene and one of its biggest exports, along with NIRVANA, PEARL JAM and ALICE IN CHAINS.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).