10 Successful Rock Acts Who Never Had A US Number 1
5. Pearl Jam - 85 Million Albums Sold
Cracking the top five on our list is another up and coming act, Pearl Jam. Like Green Day, Pearl Jam also released their first studio album in the early 1990’s. After the untimely death of the pioneering Seattle grunge band Mother Love Bone singer’s Andrew Wood, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament teamed up with Mike McCreedy and Eddie Veddar to form the now legendary Pearl Jam.
The release on 1991’s TEN shot Pearl Jam right into the grunge rock stratosphere becoming instant MTV darlings with hits such as Jeremy, Daughter, Yellow LedBetter and Evenflow. However, it wasn’t until 1999’s Last Kiss, a cover of a 1960’s ballad by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers that they obtained their highest single success.
Soaring all the way to number 2 in June of 1999, this single, which they donated all proceeds to the refugees of the Kosovo war, is up until the publication of this article their pinnacle of single success.