Pearl Jam's Mike McCready Is Working On A Rock Opera Honoring Chris Cornell

Mike McCready is a huge part of the Seattle grunge scene of the '90s, and he's drawing on those experiences for a new rock opera that will also honor his late friend and Temple of the Dog bandmate Chris Cornell.

“I look at him as one of the greatest singers and songwriters of all time, aside from being a friend,” the Pearl Jam guitarist told Guitar World. “I love Chris and I’m working on a little project about the Seattle scene and a musical kind of rock opera thing. It’s just from my experience in the Seattle music scene, and he’s part of it.”

McCready went on to describe that he envisions the project as “a record and maybe some sort of stage/play thing.”

“I’m working on a script and I’ve got about 18 songs that I’m working on, and I’m singing on it,” he continued. “It’s been a long journey.”

Last month, McCready shared a live performance of a song called "Crying Moon," which he wrote for Cornell. "This is a song I wrote as a goodbye to my friend Chris Cornell. Crying Moon is part of my process in dealing with his death," he explained about the track. "Chris opened up my world to new heights when he let me play on Temple Of The Dog. When he agreed to sing on Mad Season as part of the Sonic Evolution show with the Seattle Symphony, I literally jumped for joy! The Temple Of The Dog reunion at that show inspired us to tour, which was amazing. Playing War Pigs live with Chris was a dream. I love and miss him..."

It's not clear if "Crying Moon" will be part of the rock opera.

Elsewhere in the interview, the guitarist revealed that Pearl Jam's new album is "just about finished," but don't expect it to come out in 2023.

“I think there’s a few tweaks here and there that have to happen, and we’re probably not going to have anything out this year,” he admitted.