Pearl Jam released their debut album, Ten, on August 27, 1991. Over the past 30 years, it has sold more than 13 million copies in the United States and propelled the group to superstardom. Plus, Pearl Jam became a reluctant standard-bearer of Seattle's emerging grunge scene. But beyond the media hype, industry marketing, and MTV overplay, the songs on Ten spoke directly to a generation of fans who took the album's raw emotions to heart. Earlier this year, listeners of The Current voted Ten to the top spot of the 893 Essential Debut Albums list. On the 30th anniversary of the release of Ten, we highlight 10 memories from the creation of an enduring classic.

The songs from Ten came quickly once Eddie Vedder moved to Seattle

Before Pearl Jam formed, guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament were reeling from the heroin overdose death of their Mother Love Bone bandmate Andrew Wood. Gossard had sent demo tapes featuring instrumentals to recruit a singer for his new band. Red Hot Chili Peppers (and future Pearl Jam) drummer Jack Irons passed a copy to San Diego surfer Eddie Vedder. Vedder added vocals to songs that became "Alive," "Once," and "Footsteps" (known to band aficionados as the "Mamasan" trilogy). After hearing the demos, the band invited Vedder to Seattle to record in October of 1990. During the first week of rehearsals, the band wrote 11 songs, and were quickly signed by Epic Records.

The album's title nodded to Pearl Jam's original band name and basketball fandom

Ahead of a tour opening for Alice in Chains, the then-unnamed band's initial moniker was Mookie Blaylock, named after an NBA point guard. They had put his basketball card in their original demo cassette case. When the group became Pearl Jam, Blaylock's jersey number, 10 (styled as Ten), was chosen as their debut album's title. During initial tours, basketball figures adorned their speakers, and Ament wore basketball jerseys for teams based in the cities where they played.

Commercial success for Ten didn't come immediately

Pearl Jam won over fans on the road. It began in July of 1991 with a mini-tour that included a First Avenue show with Trip Shakespeare and Walt Mink, and continued for the next year and a half. They played college campuses (including a free show at Marquette University that I attended in 1992), small clubs (with a return to First Ave on March 25, 1992), and auditoriums (Roy Wilkins Auditorium on November 30, 1991, opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Smashing Pumpkins). During live performances of "Porch," Vedder climbed light standards, speaker stacks, ceilings, and amphitheater rooftops to prove he was giving everything he had.

Underneath the roar of "Even Flow" was a call to help the homeless

The second single from Ten was an early example from a career of songs urging compassion for the less fortunate. Beneath monstrous Led Zeppelin-like riffs and propulsive rhythms, Vedder's lyrics describe a homeless man struggling to survive on the street. "Freezin' / rests his head on a pillow made of concrete, again / feelin' / maybe he'll see a little better set of days." It is a heady song for any listener who digs deep enough.

The "Jeremy" video shocked the music world

Directed by Mark Pellington (U2's "One," Information Society's "What's On Your Mind [Pure Energy]), the video for "Jeremy" was an unsettling accompaniment to the song about high school student Jeremy Wade, who tragically shot himself in front of his classmates. A censored version of the video was in regular rotation on MTV. In 1993, "Jeremy" received two Grammy Award nominations , and won four MTV Video Music Awards, including Best Video of the Year. Pearl Jam eventually released the uncensored video in 2020 on National Gun Violence Awareness Day, and released a statement:. "The increase in gun violence since the debut of 'Jeremy' is staggering ... We can prevent gun deaths whether mass shootings, deaths of despair, law enforcement, or accidental."

Artistic principles came before record label demands

When their record company wanted to release "Black" as Ten's fourth single and produce an accompanying video, the group refused, not wanting the song's raw emotion to be overplayed Instead, "Black" became an impassioned singalong during their live shows. "Some songs just aren't meant to be played between Hit No. 2 and Hit No. 3," Vedder told Cameron Crowe during a 1993 Rolling Stone interview. "You start doing those things, you'll crush it. That's not why we wrote songs. We didn't write to make hits."

Haunting lullaby "Release" became a live gem

Many great Pearl Jam shows open with "Release." It is a heartbreaking song that brings the album to a powerful conclusion witha touching goodbye to the father that Vedder never knew, "Oh, dear Dad / can you see me now? / I am myself, like you somehow / I'll ride the wave where it takes me / I'll hold the pain / release me." The line, "I'll wait up in the dark for you to speak to me," will always remind me of high school -- the anxious flush of young love, and waiting by the phone for my girlfriend to call in the middle of the night.

The Ten Club fan community launched

Ten's album insert lists a P.O. Box for fans to sign up for the Ten Club, a community still thriving to this day). In addition to 7-inch Christmas singles featuring unreleased rarities, the Ten Club also provided access to the best concert tickets, soundboard-quality bootlegs, rare vinyl releases, and helped unite supporters from across the globe.

The songs were stripped down for MTV Unplugged

Pearl Jam recorded their Unplugged session on March 16, 1992, 20 months before Nirvana's iconic performance. Pearl Jam's set revealed vulnerable, intensely personal songs that still resonated without the volume turned up to 10. Fresh off their first European tour, Pearl Jam reworked six songs from Ten (as well as "State of Love and Trust," which arrived on the Singles soundtrack). The typically animated Vedder looked uncomfortable confined to a swiveling barstool, but his robust baritone carried the day. During "Porch," Vedder put his beliefs on full display by scrawling "Pro Choice" on his arm in black marker.

1992's Lollapalooza Tour capped Pearl Jam's rise to stardom

By the summer of 1992, Pearl Jam were one of the biggest bands in the world. Ten had reached No. 2 on the Billboard Album Chart, the band appeared in Cameron Crowe's movie about Seattle nightlife, Singles, and their music was in constant rotation on MTV and radio. During the second Lollapalooza tour that summer, they played to some of the largest crowds of their career and completely stole the show from headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers. Playing second on that year's lineup (after openers Lush), Pearl Jam had time to watch other bands' sets and stage impromptu Temple of the Dog performances with their friends in Soundgarden. These dynamic Lollapalooza performances featured local stops at Harriet Island and Alpine Valley in Wisconsin. Following that tour, they took a well-deserved break to rest, regroup, and eventually start work on their second album, Vs., which set a new record for first-week sales upon its release.