Soundgarden Reunite With Taylor Momsen at Seahawks Opener

Soundgarden played their first live set in years on Wednesday night, reuniting at halftime during the Seattle Seahawks season opener against the New England Patriots at Lumen Field. Original members Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd, and Matt Cameron took the stage alongside The Pretty Reckless frontwoman Taylor Momsen and Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, who also handled national anthem duties earlier in the evening.

The set was not televised, so if you were not in the stadium, you missed it in real time. Clips have since circulated online, and they paint a picture of a band that sounds tighter than the circumstances of the last decade might have suggested.

What Soundgarden Played and Why It Matters

The group performed two tracks: "Outshined" from 1991's Badmotorfinger and "Spoonman" from 1994's Superunknown. The latter is the more significant of the two. It was the first time Soundgarden played "Spoonman" since April 2017, one month before frontman Chris Cornell died. Hearing it again, with someone other than Cornell on the mic, is not a small thing.

Momsen has been the consistent choice when Soundgarden steps back into the spotlight. She first joined the band at a 2019 Chris Cornell tribute concert, then again at the 2022 Taylor Hawkins tribute, and most recently at the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction last year. Brandi Carlile also fronted the group at a 2021 show at the Gorge in Washington. The band has been methodical about how they reenter the public eye, and Momsen keeps earning the spot.

A 2027 Soundgarden Tour Is Looking More Possible

This performance did not happen in a vacuum. Last week, industry trade HITS reported on swirling rumors of a full Soundgarden reunion tour in 2027, with a possible Coachella appearance attached to those conversations. Wednesday's halftime set lands in that context and reads like a deliberate statement of readiness.

The legal backdrop matters here too. The years following Cornell's death in 2017 were complicated by prolonged legal disputes between the surviving band members and Cornell's widow, Vicky Cornell. Those battles have since been resolved, clearing the path for the band to operate without that weight hanging over every move.

What the Lumen Field set demonstrated is that the chemistry is still there. Thayil, Shepherd, and Cameron are not a nostalgia act going through the motions. Momsen is a legitimate rock vocalist with her own catalog and her own audience, not a caretaker filling a seat. McCready's presence, borrowed from the Seattle rock institution a few blocks away, gave the whole thing a regional homecoming quality that felt intentional.

What This Means for the Rock World and Festival Season

For anyone tracking major rock acts and festival lineups, this moment is worth paying close attention to. A Soundgarden tour announcement in 2027 would be one of the bigger rock stories in recent memory. Superunknown alone is one of the defining rock albums of the 1990s, and there is an entire generation of listeners who never had a chance to see them live with a full touring commitment behind them.

For independent artists and creators watching from the outside, the Soundgarden situation is also an instructive model. The band did not force a reunion. They showed up for meaningful moments, tribute shows and Hall of Fame nights, let a vocalist organically grow into the role across several appearances, settled their legal complications, and now appear positioned to move on their own terms. That kind of patience and intention is rare in a business that usually pushes artists toward the cash-in move as quickly as possible.

If you are a creator or artist navigating your own complicated comeback story, or just someone building something that requires the right timing, watch how this unfolds. Whether or not a tour materializes, Soundgarden is writing a playbook for how legacy acts can re-enter the conversation with their credibility intact.

We will be tracking any official announcements as they come. Check back here, or browse our [upcoming events](/events) page for major shows hitting the LA area as festival season approaches.