Hiro Yamamoto
Founding member of Soundgarden
YEAR INDUCTED
2022
CATEGORY
Music
Musician and songwriter Hiro Yamamoto is a pioneering figure in Pacific Northwest rock history, having left a lasting musical mark as the founding bassist of the rock band Soundgarden. He later co-founded and played with the bands Truly and Stereo Donkey. Third generation Sansei, his Japanese-American parents were both interned at Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona during the WW II era. In 1984, in Seattle, Washington, he co-founded Soundgarden, along with musicians Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell. The band helped to popularize grunge music that exploded in the 1980s. Yamamoto’s songwriting was featured on the band’s GRAMMY-nominated album Ultramega OK. In 1991 Yamamoto started the indie rock band Truly. In 2016 he co-founded the surf trio Stereo Donkey. In 2025, Hiro was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the rest of Soundgarden. Beyond music, Yamamoto earned a Master of Arts in Physical Chemistry at Western Washington University. He went on to establish a successful career as Chief Chemist in an environmental science laboratory. Hiro and his wife, Kate, have two sons.
HALL OF FAME ESSAY
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Hiro Yamamoto at Founders Gala 2022
It’s up to us to take the power back.
– HIRO YAMAMOTO
