Ben Shepherd

Ben Shepherd (born Hunter Benedict Shepherd on September 20, 1968) is an American musician, best known as the bass player in the grunge band Soundgarden from 1990 until the band's 1997 break-up.

Ben Shepherd
Background information
Birth name	Hunter Benedict Shepherd
Born	(1968-09-20) September 20, 1968 (age 57) Okinawa, Japan
Origin	Seattle, Washington, United States
Genres	Grunge
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Bass, guitar, vocals
Years active	1980–present
Labels	Sub Pop, A&M, Burn Burn Burn

Ben Shepherd first auditioned for the role of bassist in Soundgarden in 1989, to replace Hiro Yamamoto, who had left the band. He was turned down because he could not play the songs well enough.^[1] But after Jason Everman was let go, Shepherd was then hired.

Chris Cornell said that Shepherd brought a "fresh and creative" approach to the Badmotorfinger recording sessions,^[2] All the band members said that his knowledge of music and writing skills would be a help to the band.^[3]

Before joining, Soundgarden had been Shepherd's favorite band.^[4]