In an early promotional interview, Vedder said that the name "Pearl Jam" was a reference to his great-grandmother Pearl, who was married to a Native American and had a special recipe for peyote-laced jam. In a 2006 Rolling Stone cover story however, Vedder admitted that this story was "total bullsh*t", although he did indeed had a great-grandma named Pearl. Guitarists Ament and McCready explained that Ament came up with "pearl", and that the band later settled on "Pearl Jam" after attending a concert by Neil Young, in which he extended his songs as improvisations of 15-20 minutes in length.

The band was originally named after professional basketball player Mookie Blaylock, but changed their name after signing with Epic Records, as record executives were concerned about intellectual property rights following Blaylock's inking of an endorsement deal with Nike. In commemoration of the band's original name, Pearl Jam titled its first album Ten after Blaylock's jersey number.

Yeah I'm a lucky man
To count on both hands
The ones I love
Some folks just have one
Yeah others they got none
Stay with me
Let's just breathe

Pearl Jam had previously allowed fans to make amateur recordings of shows. But in 2000, they decided to record and release "official bootlegs" for every concert they played on the Binaural Tour. By 2001, there were 72 of them. Several hit the chart, with the band's Nov. 6, 2001, gig in Seattle making it to No. 98.

Singles (1992) revolves around Janet Livermore (Bridget Fonda), a coffee-bar waitress who falls for Cliff Poncier (Matt Dillon), an aspiring grunge rock musician of the fictional grunge/rock band Citizen Dick, which also features Pearl Jam members Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, and Eddie Vedder. Most of Matt Dillon's wardrobe in the movie actually belonged to Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament.

And now my bitter hands cradle broken glass
Of what was everything
All the pictures have all been washed in black
Tattooed everything

In 1992, with Ten riding high on the charts and "Alive," "Even Flow" and "Jeremy" all having achieved bona fide hit status, Epic Records began pushing to release the emotional ballad "Black" as a single, but the band felt it was too personal and refused. "Some songs just aren't meant to be played between Hit No. 2 and Hit No. 3," Vedder told Rolling Stone in 1993. Radio stations across the country took matters into their own hands and played it anyway, sending the track to No. 3 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

After recording Ten in March 1991, drummer Dave Krusen left the band to check himself into rehab. He was replaced by Matt Chamberlain, who played only a handful of shows before leaving to join the Saturday Night Live band. Chamberlain suggested Dave Abbruzzese as his replacement. Abbruzzese joined the group and played the rest of Pearl Jam's live shows supporting Ten.

Rolling Stone gave Neil Young's Mirror Ball four out of five stars, saying that although "Young is clearly the dominant partner--it's his concept, after all, his songs and his album--it's Pearl Jam who ultimately end up determining the music's shape and feel, providing a level of input and energy that goes well beyond the normal purview of a backing band."

Waitin', watchin' the clock, it's four o'clock, it's got to stop
Tell him, take no more, she practices her speech
As he opens the door, she rolls over
Pretends to sleep as he looks her over
She lies and says she's in love with him, can't find a better man