The soundtrack to Cameron Crowe’s Seattle-based rom-com Singles was grunge’s unified peak. Nirvana might have turned down the chance to participate but everyone else was present and in the form of their lives – Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden (plus a solo corker from Chris Cornell) and Screaming Trees all came up with jaw-dropping cuts for inclusion, but the compilation’s standout song is its opener, Alice In Chains’ snaking classic Would?. Speaking to Classic Rock’s Niall Doherty in 2021, Alice In Chains guitarist, co-vocalist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell revisited the song’s origins.
“We were hanging out with Cameron Crowe and I knew he was working on a movie and I knew Chris Cornell was working on some stuff for it and the Pearl Jam guys were working on some stuff and he was like, ‘I want you to write a song for this movie, man’,” Cantrell said. “I was thinking about [Mother Love Bone frontman] Andy Wood, it was not long after Andy passed, and that was the genesis of the idea for the song.”
