Soundgarden Members to Reunite for Seattle Benefit Show

Members of Soundgarden are set to take to the stage next week as part of a benefit concert in their Seattle hometown.

The performance, which takes place at Seattle’s Showbox on December 14th, will see guitarist Kim Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron, and bassist Ben Shepherd adopting the name Nudedragons for the affair. That moniker – an anagram of the band’s more famous name – is the same used by Soundgarden in 2010 when they performed at the same venue for their first live date since 1997.

Shaina Shepherd will take on vocal duties with the band in what is being described as a “brief encore performance”.

The upcoming live show takes place as part of SMooCH, an annual campaign to raise funds for the Seattle Children’s Hospital’s Uncompensated Care Fund. Previous SMooCH events have featured acts such as Modest Mouse, The Afghan Whigs, Jason, Isbell, Angel Olsen, and more.

Alongside Nudedragons, this year’s SMooCH lineup will also include Sebadoh, Doug Martsch of Built To Spill, and Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses.

Originally forming in 1984, Soundgarden intially remained active until 1997, becoming icons of the Seattle grunge scene in the process thanks to albums such as Superunknown, which topped the Billboard 200 upon its release in 1994.

Following various side projects for its members during the interim, Soundgarden reconvened in 2010, and remained active until the passing of frontman Chris Cornell in 2017. The following year, Thayil noted an uncertainty of what Soundgarden’s future could look like, before announcing the retirement of the band name.

Since then, members of the group have reunited for a handful of performances, including a 2019 tribute performance for Cornell dubbed I Am The Highway, which featured guest vocalists such as The Pretty Reckless’ Taylor Momsen and the Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins.

Upon Hawkins’ passing in 2022, Thayil and Cameron were joined by Momsen and members of Nirvana the Foo Fighters for another tribute performance.