Alice in Chains will receive the Founders Award from Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) at a virtual event to be held on December 1st. The broadcast will feature performances by Alice in Chains, as well as tributes from several notable musicians from the area.
“It feels truly special to receive the MoPOP Founders Award in our hometown of Seattle,” Alice in Chains’ guitarist and singer Jerry Cantrell said in a statement. “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!”
“When we got to make our first record, I thought, ‘Great, we will be able to make one record, do our thing and hope for the best,’” drummer Sean Kinney said. “Now, 30 years later, to get this award and still be touring and making music is the most amazing feeling. We are brothers with all of the craziness that goes with it. This is for Layne, Mike, and for all of us now. We can’t wait to get back out on the road once this hellish pandemic is behind us.”
The event will be broadcasted on Amazon’s Twitch channel. The Museum has launched an RSVP page for fans to find out more about how to view the event.
Performers include Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson, Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, Jane’s Addiction’s Dave Navarro and Chris Chaney, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan, Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil, Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, Screaming Trees’ and Mad Season’s Mark Lanegan, and Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins, among others. Metallica, Korn, Fishbone, and Mastodon will also perform, and Lily Cornell Silver, Chris Cornell’s daughter, will make her musical debut.
Non-performers at the event include Les Claypool, Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, Sammy Hagar, Tom Morello, Robert Downey, Jr., and others.
The broadcast will also feature performances by MoPOP’s Sound Off! participants. These artists are all 21 and under and come from the Pacific northwest and usually perform in the museum’s Sky Church. The event will feature Katy Rose, Human Missile Crisis, David’s Van, and Talaya, all artists whose performances were canceled due to the pandemic.
