Mike McCready
Michael David McCready (born April 5, 1966) is an American musician known for being a founding member and lead guitarist of Pearl Jam. McCready was also a member of the side project bands Flight to Mars, Temple of the Dog, Mad Season, and The Rockfords. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a part of Pearl Jam in 2017 alongside the three other founding members (Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard and Eddie Vedder), and former member Dave Krusen.[1]
For other people named Mike McCready, see Mike McCready (disambiguation).
Mike McCready
Michael David McCready
Petster, McMelty
April 5, 1966
Pensacola, Florida, U.S.
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Musician, songwriter
Guitar
1979–present
Monkeywrench, A&M, Epic, Columbia, J
Temple of the Dog, Mad Season, The Rockfords, Flight to Mars
Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
Mike McCready was born in Pensacola, Florida, but his family moved to Seattle shortly after his birth.[2] When he was a child, his parents played Jimi Hendrix and Santana; while his friends listened to Kiss and Aerosmith, McCready would frequently play bongo drums.[3] At the age of eleven, McCready purchased his first guitar and began taking lessons.
In eighth grade, McCready formed his first band, Warrior, whose name soon changed to Shadow. Originally a cover band playing during free periods at Roosevelt High School, the band eventually began writing original material and recording demo tapes.[4] After high school, McCready worked at a pizza restaurant where he befriended musician Pete Droge.[5] In 1986, Shadow relocated to Los Angeles and attempted to cut a record deal.[4] However, according to McCready:
McCready is known to use a variety of different guitars, but during Pearl Jam's early years he used mainly Fender Stratocasters. His arsenal now includes Gibson Les Pauls and Gibson Les Paul Juniors, among others.
A Fender Stratocaster has been used constantly and most often throughout his career. McCready has used many types of Stratocasters, vintage and modern, even including left-handed Stratocasters with reversed strings, so that the slanted bridge pickup would have more treble on the lower strings, as opposed to the intended higher strings.[51] This was a common practice of Jimi Hendrix, who played right-handed guitars even though he was left-handed. His most prized model is a slab rosewood fretboard 1960 Stratocaster, the first in a series of 1959 modeled vintage guitars, inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Number One" guitar.[52]
In 2021, Fender Custom Shop master builder Vincent Van Trigt discovered that McCready's valuable 1959 Stratocaster turned out to be a 1960 model. That same year, Fender produced a Custom Shop limited edition of the Mike McCready 1960 Stratocaster which is an accurate replica of McCready's original sunburst.[53][54]
In 2023, Fender also produced a Made in Mexico, more affordable signature model of McCready's prized 1960 Stratocaster.[55][56]
McCready's second most used guitar is a Gibson Les Paul. He now uses it for live performances of "Alive", "Brain of J." (from Yield), and "Given to Fly", among others. Among his collection, his most frequently used is his 1959 Standard, formerly owned by Jim Armstrong, guitarist for Van Morrison's band, Them. He has only recently started to use the single pickup Gibson Les Paul Junior, which is a TV yellow 1959 model. He also has Gibson Les Paul Specials. He plays Fender Telecasters on live performances of "Corduroy" (from Vitalogy), "World Wide Suicide" (from Pearl Jam), and "Marker in the Sand", among others.[57]
Gibson produced a signature, limited edition version of McCready's 1959 original Les Paul Standard with true historic specifications.[58]