Their first name of Soundgarden was "The Shemps" (1982) and the two founding members were Chris Cornell (lead singer and drummer) and Hiro Yamamoto (bassist). In 1984 Kim Thayil (guitar) and Scott Sundquist (drums) joined the band that changed its name to "Soundgarden". Soundgarden has been one of the most important bands in the grunge and post grunge genre and movement, together with Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Soundgarden was also the first grunge band to sign to a major label. After their disbandment in 1997, and a lucky solo career of Chris Cornell, together with his succesful experience with Audioslave in these years, Soundgarden decided to reform in 2010 and the moment of writing they issued a compilation of their best past songs and they are planning a new record and a new tour.