Stone Gossard
Stone Carpenter Gossard (born July 20, 1966) is an American musician who serves as a guitarist for the rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of the band.
Stone Gossard
Stone Carpenter Gossard
Carpenter Newton
July 20, 1966
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
- Musician
- songwriter
- Guitar
- vocals
1984–present
Gossard is also known for his work prior to Pearl Jam with the Seattle-based grunge bands Green River and Mother Love Bone. Gossard was also a member of the bands Temple of the Dog and Brad. In addition to his performing career, he has been active in the music industry as a producer and the owner of a record label and recording studio. He released his first solo album Bayleaf in 2001; his second, Moonlander, followed in 2013.
Gossard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pearl Jam in 2017.[1]
Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
Gossard was born in Seattle to David W. Gossard Jr. and Mary Carolyn Carpenter. His father was a lawyer and his mother worked in the Seattle city government. He has two sisters, Star Leslie Dirette and Shelly Joan Gossard. Gossard attended the Northwest Boarding School in Seattle. The first band Gossard joined was March of Crimes,[2] a band of which future Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd was a member, as was novelist Jonathan Evison. Although Gossard's time with the band was brief,[3] it introduced him to the emerging music scene in Seattle. Gossard formed a close friendship with fellow guitarist (and future Mudhoney member) Steve Turner, who also had attended the Northwest School,[4] and joined Turner in his band The Ducky Boys. Turner's interest in punk rock had a significant influence on Gossard, and in turn on the ethos of the band.[5]
Other work[edit]
Gossard had a brief acting cameo in the 1992 movie, Singles, along with Jeff Ament and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. He appeared as
himself, playing guitar in lead actor Matt Dillon's backing band, Citizen Dick.[49]
Gossard has been active in environmental pursuits, and has been an advocate of Pearl Jam's carbon neutral policy, offsetting the band's environmental impact.[27] He has also extended his conservationist ideals and serves as a member of the board of directors at the Wild Salmon
Center, an international conservation organization based in Portland, Oregon.[50]
As an artist and painter, Gossard's work can be found on many Pearl Jam releases, especially material distributed through Pearl Jam's fan club.
Recognition[edit]
In a review of Pearl Jam's 2006 self-titled album, Rolling Stone editor David Fricke mentioned that both Gossard and Pearl Jam lead guitarist Mike McCready were erroneously excluded from the publication's 2003 feature "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".[58] In February 2007, Gossard and McCready were included together by Rolling Stone in its list of "The Top 20 New Guitar Gods" under the title of "four-armed monster."[59] In 2023, McCready and Gossard were both included in Rolling Stone's "The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" list at #124. [60]
Personal life[edit]
Gossard is also an avid reader and has cited Haruki Murakami as his favorite author.[52]
Gossard was married to Elizabeth "Liz" Weber from March 6, 2007 to May 25, 2011.[61][62] They had one daughter together, Vivian Sparks Gossard, born in 2007.[63] On October 1, 2011, Gossard married Vivien Wang.[64] Gossard and Wang have three daughters, Marlowe, Faye and Gwinny.[65][66][67][68]