Spoonman

"Spoonman" is a song by the American grunge band Soundgarden. It is from their fourth studio album Superunknown, which was released in 1994. The song describes Artis the Spoonman, a real-life musician who makes music with spoons. He was also featured in the song's music video. "Spoonman" won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance at the 1995 Grammy Awards.^[5]

"Spoonman"
Single by Soundgarden
from the album Superunknown
B-side	"Cold Bitch"
Released	February 14, 1994 (1994-02-14)
Studio	Bad Animals (Seattle, Washington)
Genre	Grunge[1] alternative metal[2] hard rock[3] alternative rock[4]
Length	4:06
Label	A&M
Songwriter(s)	Chris Cornell
Producer(s)	Michael Beinhorn Soundgarden
Soundgarden singles chronology
"Rusty Cage" (1992) "Spoonman" (1994) "The Day I Tried to Live" (1994)
Music video
"Spoonman" on YouTube

Track listings

All songs were written by Chris Cornell, except where noted.

CD (Europe) and 12-inch vinyl (Europe)

1. "Spoonman" – 4:06
2. "Fresh Tendrils" (Matt Cameron, Cornell) – 4:16
3. "Cold Bitch" – 5:01
4. "Exit Stonehenge" (Cameron, Cornell, Ben Shepherd, Kim Thayil) – 1:19

Cassette (UK) and 7-inch vinyl (UK)

1. "Spoonman" – 4:06
2. "Fresh Tendrils" (Cameron, Cornell) – 4:16

CD (Germany)

1. "Spoonman" (edit) – 3:51
2. "Cold Bitch" – 5:11
3. "Exit Stonehenge" (Cameron, Cornell, Shepherd, Thayil) – 1:19

CD (Australia and Canada)

1. "Spoonman" – 4:06
2. "Cold Bitch" – 5:01

Personnel

Personnel adapted from Superunknown liner notes

Soundgarden

• Chris Cornell – vocals, rhythm guitar
• Kim Thayil – lead guitar
• Ben Shepherd – bass, additional vocals
• Matt Cameron – drums, percussion, pots and pans^[6]

Additional musicians

• Artis the Spoonman – spoons

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1994) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[7] 23 Australia Alternative (ARIA)[8] 1 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[9] 12 European Hot 100 Singles (Music & Media)[10] 47 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[11] 8 Iceland (Dagblaðið Vísir Top 30)[12] 3 Ireland (IRMA)[13] 23 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[14] 10 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 37 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[16] 37 UK Singles (OCC)[17] 20 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[18] 9 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[19] 3 Chart (2017) Peak position US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[20] 18 US Rock Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[21] 11

Year-end charts Chart (1994) Position US Album Rock Tracks (Billboard)[22] 13

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[23]	Gold	15,000
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United Kingdom	February 14, 1994	7-inch vinyl 12-inch vinyl CD cassette	A&M	[24]
Japan	March 2, 1994	Mini-CD		[25]