With the Seattle-based band’s lineup locked in late October 1990, Pearl Jam's debut album Ten(named for pro basketball’s Mookie Blaylock's jersey number – the band had originally called themselves “Mookie Blaylock” and were forced to change it to "Pearl Jam" after signing with Epic Records. The lawyers were nervous, it seems!) was released in August 1991 and includes 11 tracks covering topics including loneliness, depression, suicide and murder (known collectively as “teenage angst”). The band’s straight-ahead hard-rock leanings – which showed the influences of Zeppelin, Hendrix, Neil Young and others, in a more stripped-down format - made them the most mainstream-friendly of the “grunge bands” from the alt-rock scene of the early 1990s.

The album produced four hit songs: "Even Flow", "Alive", "Jeremy", and "Black". The video for "Jeremy" was put into heavy rotation by MTV and, as a result, Ten stayed on the Billboard charts for more than two years. The album has gone on to become one of the biggest-selling rock records ever, selling over 12 million copies.

Pearl Jam toured relentlessly in support of Ten, including a slot on the summer of 1992's Lollapalooza tour, joining other Seattle bands (e.g. Soundgarden), along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ministry. At the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards, Pearl Jam received four awards for their video for "Jeremy” (including "Video of the Year" and "Best Group Video"), with the band gleefully joining rock icon Neil Young on stage to perform his song "Rockin' in the Free World".