Jeff Ament

Jeffrey Allen Ament (born March 10, 1963) is an American musician best known as the bassist of rock band Pearl Jam, which he co-founded alongside Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder.

Ament wrote or co-wrote many of Pearl Jam's hits, including "Jeremy", "Oceans", "Dissident", "Nothingman" and "Nothing as It Seems".

Prior to his work with Pearl Jam, Ament was part of the 1980s Seattle-based grunge rock bands Green River and Mother Love Bone.

He is known particularly for playing with the fretless bass, upright bass, and twelve-string bass guitars.

Ament is also a member of the bands Temple of the Dog, Three Fish, RNDM, Tres Mts., and P.E.S.T.

Ament participated in basketball, football, and track at Big Sandy High School, where he graduated in 1981.

He then attended the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana, where he studied art and played basketball.

Ament quit college in the middle of his second year after the university told him they were no longer going to continue its graphic design program.

In 1983, Ament relocated to Seattle, Washington with his band Deranged Diction.

While in Seattle, Ament got a job working at a coffee shop in Belltown.

Ament became acquainted with fellow Seattle musicians Mark Arm and Steve Turner, and he was asked to join their new band Green River in 1984.

The band also included drummer Alex Vincent, with guitarist Stone Gossard eventually being added to the line-up.

By the time the band finished the recording of its debut EP, Come on Down, Turner decided to leave the group, citing his distaste with Ament and Gossard's heavy metal leanings.

He was replaced by Ament's former Deranged Diction bandmate, Bruce Fairweather.

The band released the EP Come on Down in 1985 and followed it up with Dry As a Bone in 1987, the first non-compilation release on Sub Pop records.

The band's only full-length studio album, Rehab Doll, was released in 1988.

In-fighting lead to the group's break-up during the recording of Rehab Doll.

A stylistic division had developed between Ament and Gossard on one side, and Arm on the other.

Ament and Gossard wanted to pursue a major-label deal, while Arm wanted to remain independent, viewing the duo as being too careerist.

Regarding the accusation, Ament later said that during his time with the band he had to work at a restaurant in order to pay his rent, while the other members were supported by their parents.

He said, "Did I want to play music and have my rent paid for? Hell yeah."

The band achieved a considerable local reputation in Seattle and had a significant influence on the genre later known as grunge, with Green River being described as "arguably the first grunge band."

Following Green River's dissolution, Ament established Mother Love Bone in 1988 along with former Green River members Gossard and Fairweather, former Malfunkshun frontman Andrew Wood, and former Ten Minute Warning and Skin Yard drummer Greg Gilmore.

The band quickly worked on recording and performing locally and by late 1988 had become one of Seattle's more promising bands.

In early 1989 the band signed to PolyGram subsidiary Mercury Records.

In March of that year the group issued its debut EP, Shine.

In late 1989 the group returned to the studio to record its debut studio album, Apple.

It was planned for a March 1990 release.

Only days before the release of Apple, however, frontman Wood, who had a long history with drug problems, overdosed on heroin.

After spending a few days in the hospital in a coma, Wood died, effectively bringing Mother Love Bone to an end.

Apple was released later that year.

Following Wood's death, Ament and Gossard almost parted company.

In 2008, Ament released his first solo album, Tone.

His second solo release, While My Heart Beats, followed in 2012, and his third in 2018: Heaven/Hell.

He was also recognized as one of the top hard rock/metal bassists of all time by Loudwire in 2016, being placed at #52 on the list.

The first of 12 children, Ament was born in Havre, Montana to George and Penny Ament and grew up in the town of Big Sandy, Montana, a town with a population of less than 700 people.

Ament's father George was mayor of Big Sandy for fifteen years, as well as a barber and a school bus driver.

Ament described his family growing up as "pretty poor" and "hard-core Catholic."

He began playing the bass guitar as a teenager, often playing along with Ramones, The Clash, and The Police records.

Ament was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pearl Jam on April 7, 2017.