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Drummer

Matt Cameron: Soundgarden + Pearl Jam drummer, decoded

Matt Cameron drummed in Soundgarden from 1986 through the band's 2017 effective end + Pearl Jam from 1998 onward. DW Drums, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth. The grunge canon's defining drummer + one of the few drummers to anchor two simultaneously-active major bands.

Pearl Jam / Soundgarden · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·

Matt Cameron (born Matthew David Cameron, November 28, 1962, San Diego, California) drummed in Soundgarden from 1986 through Chris Cornell's 2017 death + Pearl Jam from 1998 onward. DW Drums, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth signature stick. One of the few drummers to anchor two simultaneously-active major bands; the grunge-canon defining pocket on Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger (1991), Superunknown (1994), Down on the Upside (1996) plus Pearl Jam's catalog from Yield (1998) through Dark Matter (2024). Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Pearl Jam (2017).

At a glance

Role

Drummer

Also known as

Matthew David Cameron

Active

1980s–present

Based

Seattle, Washington

Genres

Affiliations

Notable credits

  • Soundgarden, Louder Than Love (1989)
  • Soundgarden, Badmotorfinger (1991)
  • Soundgarden, Superunknown (1994)
  • Soundgarden, Down on the Upside (1996)
  • Soundgarden, King Animal (2012)
  • Pearl Jam, Yield (1998, his debut Pearl Jam record)
  • Pearl Jam, Riot Act (2002)
  • Pearl Jam, Backspacer (2009)
  • Pearl Jam, Lightning Bolt (2013)
  • Pearl Jam, Gigaton (2020)
  • +2 more in metadata
Sourcing3 citations · reviewed 2026-04-27· by Change Your Strings editorial team

Who Matt Cameron is

Matthew David Cameron, born November 28, 1962, in San Diego, California, drummed in Soundgarden from 1986 through Chris Cornell's May 2017 death and has been Pearl Jam's drummer since 1998. He drummed in Temple of the Dog (the 1990 tribute project to Andrew Wood that bridged Mother Love Bone + Pearl Jam) and the Wellwater Conspiracy psychedelic-rock side project (1990s-2000s).

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Pearl Jam (2017).

Style signatures

Three things across his Soundgarden + Pearl Jam catalogs you can identify as Cameron's:

  1. Polyrhythmic patterns inside grunge-rock arrangements. Soundgarden's 'Spoonman' (Superunknown, 1994) and 'My Wave' use odd time signatures that Cameron navigates cleanly.

  2. Hard-hitting backbeat that matched Soundgarden's stadium-volume aesthetic. The pocket carries into Pearl Jam's hard-hitting catalog.

  3. Architectural fills written into long-form arrangements. The Peart / Portnoy school applied to grunge-era rock.

Related

The catalog. Soundgarden, Louder Than Love (1989) through King Animal (2012). Pearl Jam, Yield (1998) through Dark Matter (2024). Temple of the Dog (1991). Wellwater Conspiracy (1997-2003).

Drummer hub. Drummers index.