12 Hard Rock Bands That Quit In Their Prime
11. Soundgarden
Out of all the Big 4 of grunge, Soundgarden seemed to be the late bloomers and the seasoned veterans all wrapped up in one. When the scene first started to gain traction, the band were quickly poised as the breakout stars, with the vocal chops of Chris Cornell being the primary selling point. However, things went in a bit of a different direction once Kurt Cobain's gymnasium-themed video hit the airwaves.
Suddenly, the hometown heroes of Seattle were now being looked at as a good band that would never get as big as their contemporaries. Then they got big. On the strength of Superunknown and the track "Black Hole Sun," the band found themselves being the new leaders of the grunge movement following Cobain's death. Even if their next outing Down on the Upside was a little hit and miss, the stage had been set for Soundgarden to pick up the mantel as rock's spokesmen.
And just like that, they were gone. Shortly after the tour to promote the new record, the band were feeling stagnated by the commercialism of the scene that they decided to close up shop rather than be disingenuous. While the band eventually reunited for King Animal in 2012, those troubling years in between left the original alt-rock fans absolutely crushed.