Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil revealed why he thinks Pearl Jam should have gone in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before Nirvana in a new Billboard article.
“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,” Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil tells Billboard. “Now, of course, rock ‘n’ roll journalists have a different perspective; they put Nirvana in first because of the cultural impact. 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.”
He also discussed Soundgarden’s Hall of Fame chances.
“I almost never think about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” Thayil 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 and 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.”
