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Kim Thayil | |
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 Thayil performing withMC50 in 2018 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Kim Anand Thayil (1960-09-04)September 4, 1960 (age 65) Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instrument | Guitar |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Member of | |
| Formerly of |
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Kim Anand Thayil[1] (born September 4, 1960)[2][3] is an American musician best known as thelead guitarist of theSeattle-basedrock bandSoundgarden, which he co-founded with singerChris Cornell and bassistHiro Yamamoto in 1984. Cornell and Thayil remained as the original members of the band until Cornell's death in 2017, and the band's subsequent split in 2018. Thayil was named the 100th greatest guitarist of all time byRolling Stone in 2010,[4] and the 67th greatest guitarist of all time bySPIN in 2012.[5] Thayil has won twoGrammy Awards as a member of Soundgarden.[6]
He was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Soundgarden in 2025.
Born inSeattle, Washington in 1960, Thayil grew up in theChicago suburb ofPark Forest.[3] HisMalayali parents came from the state ofKerala in India to Seattle.[3] His mother was a music teacher who studied to be a concert pianist at theRoyal Academy of Music.[7] His father earned a degree in chemical engineering, received employment in Chicago and moved there with his family.[8]
Thayil started writing lyrics at 12 years old.[9] In 1977, he formed his first band in Chicago, Bozo and the Pinheads,[10] apunk rock band.[9] They did both original songs (written by Thayil and inspired by hispunk music tastes) and cover tunes (mostlySex Pistols,Devo, andRamones).[11][9] Their first gig was at a school talent show for an audience of about 500 people.[11]
He played guitar in apost-punk band called Identity Crisis in 1980 and released a 7-inch EP calledPretty Feet.[12]
Thayil metHiro Yamamoto atRich East High School in Park Forest. He graduated, along with Hiro Yamamoto, from the Active Learning Process School (ALPS) atRich East High School in 1979, the same schoolBruce Pavitt graduated from two years earlier, in 1977. He and Yamamoto decided to move toOlympia, Washington, to study atThe Evergreen State College, but they were unable to find jobs and decided to move to Seattle. There, Thayil was a DJ forKCMU and earned a degree in philosophy at theUniversity of Washington. In Seattle they also metChris Cornell, a roommate, and the three formedSoundgarden in 1984.[11][13]
Soundgarden became the first of Seattle's grunge bands to sign with a major label (A&M Records). They went on to release five albums, including three which wentplatinum at least once, and won twoGrammys.[6]
Thayil became acclaimed for his guitar work, which was typically characterized by heavyriffing, and was cited among other grunge guitarists as an influence and a pioneer of the "Seattle Sound." In 1994, Thayil commented, "I think Soundgarden is a pretty good band and I'm a fine guitarist. I'm not God, but I'm certainly not average. I feel very comfortable with the fact that not many other people can do what I do on guitar. I think my guitar is happy with the way I play it."[14]
Originally one of Soundgarden's main songwriters, Thayil's contributions as a writer eventually dwindled to just one song onDown on the Upside, "Never the Machine Forever", although he contributed to details in every song, as did every band member. Thayil explained that "Collaboration was paramount in our early music, especially right at the beginning when it was me on guitar, Hiro on bass and Chris on drums", but eventually all four members became songwriters of their own, "all writing guitar parts that I had to learn." This led him to do "Never the Machine Forever" all on his own, as Thayil thought "Well, if I'm going to have a song on this fucking record, I'm going to have to write lyrics."[15]
While a member of Soundgarden, he wrote the following songs for the band:
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Thayil joined singerJohnny Cash, bassistKrist Novoselic ofNirvana and drummerSean Kinney ofAlice in Chains for a cover ofWillie Nelson's "Time of the Preacher", featured on the tribute albumTwisted Willie, released in January 1996.[16][17]
After the 1997 breakup of Soundgarden, Thayil went on to contribute guitar to work byPigeonhed andPresidents of the United States of America. More recently, he contributed guitar to the track "Blood Swamp" from the 2006Sunn O)))/Boris albumAltar, for which he also wrote liner notes. Thayil also plays lead guitar on a track called "V.O.G." by Ascend, which featuresGentry Densley (Iceburn,Eagle Twin) andGreg Anderson (Sunn O))), Engine Kid,Goatsnake). Ascend's record, titled Ample Fire Within, was released in 2008 bySouthern Lord Records.
In 1999, Thayil formed apunk band, theNo WTO Combo, withJello Biafra (formerly ofDead Kennedys),Krist Novoselic (formerly ofNirvana, at the time a member ofSweet 75), and Gina Mainwal (also ofSweet 75). The band was formed to celebrate and furtherthe rampant protest activity against theWTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, which was held on November 30, 1999. Originally scheduled to play atThe Showbox on that same evening, police prevented the band from doing so, forcing the show to be rescheduled for the following night. This was Thayil's first live concert since the breakup of Soundgarden. The show was recorded by Mark Cavener and mixed by Soundgarden producerJack Endino; it was released as the albumLive from the Battle in Seattle in May 2000.
In 2003,Rolling Stone magazine named Thayil #100 on the list of the "100 greatest guitarists of all time".[18][4]
In 2004, Thayil played guitar forProbot,Dave Grohl'sheavy metal side-project; he was featured on the songs "Ice Cold Man" and "Sweet Dreams".
Thayil was a recurring participant on theAlmost Live! sketch comedy show, calling things "lame" during "The Lame List" segments.[19][20]
In 2009, Thayil played with Soundgarden'sMatt Cameron andBen Shepherd at a show in Seattle on March 24, 2009, at theCrocodile Cafe that was headlined byTom Morello'sThe Nightwatchman. It was the first time the three had played together in public since the band's 1997 breakup. The three were joined byTad Doyle of fellow 1990s Seattle bandTAD, and performed three Soundgarden songs. For the last song (Spoonman) they were joined byTom Morello (Morello had played the song before withAudioslave). Thayil has also played withGreg Gilmore ofMother Love Bone and Danny Kelly of Heliotroupe in the group Set & Setting. Their debut performance was October 31, 2009, above the famedK Records warehouse now known as the Cherry Street Loft ("The Loft on Cherry") inOlympia, Washington.
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On January 1, 2010, it was announced through Facebook and Twitter posts by Chris Cornell that the official Soundgarden fanclub had been restarted. On April 15, 2010, it was announced that Soundgarden would play its first show since 1997 the following day at the Showbox at the Market in its Seattle hometown. The band played under the name 'Nudedragons', an anagram for Soundgarden.
On August 5, 2010, the band played their first reunion show under the Soundgarden name atThe Vic Theatre in Chicago. Three days later, they headlined the final night ofLollapalooza inGrant Park.
In September 2010, the band released the compilation albumTelephantasm. November 2012 saw the release ofKing Animal, their first studio album since 1996.
In 2012, Thayil voiced a character inSeason IV: Church of the Black Klok's "Dethcamp" in theAdult Swim original seriesMetalocalypse.
On May 18, 2017, Chris Cornell was found dead in his hotel room, cancelling the rest of their tour and the band was disbanded again in 2018, with the exception of their one-off show of Tribute to Chris Cornell in January 2019.[21][22]
In March 2018, it was announced that original member of theproto punk bandMC5,Wayne Kramer would embark on a 35 date tour of North America for their 50th anniversary of the band's debutKick Out the Jams, recruiting Thayil to play guitar along withBrendan Canty ofFugazi,Doug Pinnick ofKing's X, and Marcus Durant ofZen Guerrilla.[23]
In 2020, Thayil played guitar solos on the song "The Firebird" for the jazz fusion band, theBarret Martin Group. In 2021, he played lead guitar andMatt Cameron played drums for a track, "Only Love Can Save Me Now", on the newThe Pretty Reckless album. The Pretty Reckless frontwomanTaylor Momsen said that without Thayil, recording the track would have been impossible, as "Kim is a master – there's no-one else like him."[24] In December 2020, Thayil,Krist Novoselic, Jennifer Johnson, Jillian Raye, Jeff Fielder and Ben Smith performed the song "Drone" at the Seattle Museum of Pop Culture's tribute toAlice in Chains. In 2021, Thayil appeared onMastodon's double albumHushed and Grim, playing lead guitar on the track "Had It All".[25]
In 2021, Thayil, along with drummer Matt Cameron, bassist Krist Novoselic, guitarist Bubba Dupree, and vocalists Jennifer Johnson and Jillian Raye, formed the group3rd Secret. Their self-titled debut album, which they recorded at The Bait Shop inBellevue,Washington with producerJack Endino, was released in April 2022. The group also performed at theMuseum of Pop Culture in Seattle.[26]
In 2024, Thayil appeared onBear McCreary's epic rock concept album, graphic novel, and concert experience -"The Singularity".
In 2025, Thayil was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of Soundgarden.[27]
Thayil recorded a cover version of "The Day I Tried To Live" with King Ultramega to celebrate the induction of Soundgarden into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.[28]
Soundgarden
No WTO Combo
Probot
Sunn O))) and Boris
3rd Secret
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