For years, the story behind Pearl Jam's name was that lead singer Eddie Vedder had a great-grandmother named Pearl who was married to a Native American and made a special halluncinogenic preserve (jam). However, in later years, the band admitted this was largely a tall tale. The band was originally named Mookie Blaylock, after a professional basketball player, but they had to change it for legal reasons. They settled on 'Pearl' first, and then added 'Jam' after attending a Neil Young concert where he performed long, improvisational 'jams.' Vedder has since joked that the story about his grandmother was 'total BS' but it sounded good at the time. Their debut album 'Ten' remains one of the cornerstones of the 90s grunge era.