Pearl Jam has many reasons to celebrate. First, band members recently shared news about the 23rd anniversary for their first gig, which is no small feat in the rock world. The band is composed of uniquely-talented musicians all hailing from different areas of the United States, and includes Eddie Vedder (born in Evanston, Illinois), Mike McCready (from Pensacola, Florida), Jeff Ament (from Havre, Montana), Matt Cameron (born in San Diego, California), and Stone Gossard (born in Seattle, Washington).

23 years ago today we played our first show. Tonight we celebrate in Philly.

— Pearl Jam (@PearlJam) October 22, 2013

The talented band dominated the 90’s, (which isn’t surprising) – however, the band still dominates the charts today, a testament to the talents of the continually-recognized band members.

Billboard has reported that the band’s newest masterpiece, Lightning Bolt, is the Number 1 album on the Billboard 200, which means that Pearl Jam is now credited with five Number 1 albums. The other four Number 1 albums were from as far back as the early 90’s and into this millennium; Backspacer (2009), No Code (1996), Vitalogy (1994), and Vs. (1993). Pearl Jam is also noted with four Number 2 albums; Ten (1992), Yield (1998), Binaural (2000) and Pearl Jam (2006). Nielsen SoundScan reported that the band has sold 166,000 copies during the first week.

Congrats to @PearlJam on earning their fifth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200! http://t.co/eKUHbaS6sW

— Billboard (@billboard) October 23, 2013

Lightning Bolt was first released on October 15, 2013, and contains the following 12 tracks: Getaway, Mind Your Manners, My Father’s Son, Sirens, Lightning Bolt, Infallible, Pendulum, Swallowed Whole, Let the Records Play, Sleeping By Myself, Yellow Moon, and Future Days.

Producing chart-topping hits is only a part of the band’s contributions where members have also publicly spoken about having a social conscience as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JR4Q0kEjQg

[Images Via Pearl Jam’s Facebook Page]