(Credits: Far Out / Spotify)
Tue 9 December 2025 12:56, UK
Although Pearl Jam is ostensibly a grunge band, they have always been closely linked to classic rock. Whether this was through their heavily blues-based sound or the figures that they were most inspired by, Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, and the rest of the Seattle group felt like an act from a bygone era.
An aspect of Pearl Jam’s material that is particularly inextricable from the classic rock era is the guitar work of McCready and Stone Gossard. The swaggering licks and solos from the band’s lead axeman are imbued with the heady essence of the late 1960s and early 1970s. This also makes sense, given that McCready cites the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards and Pete Townshend as those who had the most impact on him in establishing his approach.
However, according to the Pearl Jam legend, one band had more influence on his life than any other artist and is the reason he started playing music in the first place. This is makeup-wearing New Yorkers Kiss. When speaking to Rolling Stone in 2014, McCready explained just how vital Paul Stanley’s outfit is to him. In fact, Kiss “were The Beatles” to his young self.
Now it should be noted that while these two artists can feel very disparate looking back, they hold a lot of similarities. The Beatles, especially during the so-called Beatlemania years, were as much a success of marketing as they were music. Yes, they were certainly talented, and as time went by, they would indulge in this talent to become innovative informers of modern music as we know it. But as a starting group, they were helmed by Brian Epstein and carefully crafted to sell records, make movies and become rich beyond anybody’s wildest dreams. The same can be said for Kiss.
The face-painted group were also masters of marketing, finding anything they could to slam their brand over and sell as merchandise. The group also operated on the same principle as The Beatles’ quartered appeal, while The Fab Four were known as ‘The cute One’ or ‘The Quiet One’, Kiss did their own work with costuming, providing fans with four different personas to fill for. It’s a genius move and it worked o McCready.
Kiss in 1976 and all their face-painted glory. (Credits: Far Out / Casablanca Records)
McCready recalled: “I remember being on a school bus in sixth grade in 1976 with my friend Rick Friel, who eventually played in my high school band Shadow. He had a lunch box that had Kiss on it. “What is that? “Then he played me some music and I was hooked immediately. Then I had a Kiss room and I started playing guitar. They were the Beatles to me. They are the reason I started playing music.”
He continued: “They were larger than life, with this intangible thing that I basically think about all the time. I was Peter Criss for Halloween in 1976 (pictured, left). I loved Alive!. ‘Black Diamond’ blew my mind. Ace Frehley came onstage and did it with us at Madison Square Garden a few years ago, which was a total high watermark in my life. When I was 13, I never thought in a million years that I would even talk to him; I’d probably pass out. And here I am playing with him!”
The Pearl Jam guitarist also revealed that his band members are tremendous fans of Kiss. When on tour, they discuss the inner workings of the group on a regular basis. McCready even mentioned that they used to cover ‘C’mon and Love Me’ and, as a 14-year-old budding musician, drummer Matt Cameron played in a San Diego Kiss covers outfit that grew so popular in the local area that they were sent a cease and desist by Casablanca Records.
Most importantly, though, he noted: “There’s a Kiss through-line to a lot of the music that came out of Seattle, and it hasn’t been talked about a lot.”
Listen to ‘Black Diamond’ by Kiss below.
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