Alice in Chains were honored with a Founders Award from Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture on December 1 with a virtual celebration that featured tribute performances and accolades from Metallica, Korn, Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil, Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney, Mastodon, Krist Novoselic, Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson and many others.
The Seattle-based non-profit museum, dedicated to the ideas and risk-taking that fuel contemporary pop culture, held the event virtually for the first time. You can watch the full award ceremony, complete with performances, above.
The celebration was highlighted by a performance from Alice in Chains and a one-off supergroup jam featuring Corey Taylor, Taylor Hawkins, Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney covering Man in the Box.
Additionally, Metallica delivered a semi-acoustic performance of Alice in Chains’ 1992 hit, Would?, which you can watch below.
“Hey Alice in Chains, hey buddies, congratulations on the Mopar Auto band of the year award,” joked front man James Hetfield after the performance. “Just kidding. Congratulations on the MoPOP Founder’s Award. We’re glad to be a part of your journey in life.”
Other highlights from the evening included remaining Soundgarden members performing Angry Chair with Mike McCready, Billy Corgan tackling an acoustic version of Check My Brain, as well as Lily Cornell Silver, daughter of Chris Cornell and AIC manager Susan Silver, singing Black Gives Way to Blue.
MoPOP has also announced the release of MoPOP Founders Award Honoring Alice In Chains: A Benefit for the Museum of Pop Culture, a brand-new Amazon Originals compilation.
Available for streaming only on Amazon Music, the compilation features highlights from the event, including Mastodon’s cover of Again, City and Colour’s take on Rain When I Die, covers of Would? by Korn and Metallica, the Man in the Box jam, Alice in Chains’ performances of Your Decision and No Excuses and more.
The Founders Award event serves as the nonprofit museum’s principal annual fundraiser for youth development programs, access initiatives, community engagement, and world-class exhibitions. So far the celebration has raised more than $600,000 and counting, attracting more than 275,000 views online throughout the evening.
Said Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, “It feels truly special to receive the MoPOP Founders Award in our hometown of Seattle. It’s also humbling to be joined by so many of our friends, peers and heroes to rock some AIC tunes. I hope people watching enjoy the show as much as we did putting it together.
“A big hearty thanks to everyone who participated in making this virtual thing happen during these strange times. Music has the power to unite, heal and inspire. It is all of ours. Let’s continue to create and celebrate that which feeds the soul. Rawk on!”
Listeners can access the compilation album by asking, “Alexa, play the MoPOP Founders Award album” in the Amazon app for iOS and Android and on Alexa-enabled devices.
The full show is available to view on MoPOP’s YouTube channel and contributions to support the museum’s exhibitions, programs, and educational work can still be made at www.MoPOP.org/FoundersDonation.
You can check out the full tracklist below.
- Your Decision - Alice In Chains
- Rooster - Ann Wilson
- Down in a Hole - Duff McKagan, Shooter Jennings, Ayron Jones, Martin Feveyear
- Would? – Korn
- Rain When I Die - City and Colour
- Put You Down - Liv Warfield
- Again - Mastodon
- Black Gives Way to Blue - Lily Cornell Silver with Chris Degarmo
- Nutshell - Mark Lanegan, Maggie Bjorklund
- Man in the Box - Dave Navarro, Taylor Hawkins, Corey Taylor, Chris Chaney
- No Excuses - Alice In Chains
- Heaven Beside You - Aryon Jones
- Check My Brain - Billy Corgan
- Them Bones - Fishbone
- Drone - Kim Thayil with Krist Novoselic, Giants in the Trees
- Brother - Nancy Wilson, Mark Lanegan and Liv Warfield
- Angry Chair - Members of Soundgarden with Tad Doyle, Mike McCready and Meagan Grandall
- Black Gives Way to Blue - Eric & Encarnación
- It Ain’t Like That - Kim Thayil with Shaina Shepherd, Bubba Dupree, Bill Herzog, Nathan Yaccino
