Happy Birthday today (Sept. 20) to Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd. He’s 49. Other rockers celebrating include Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt (51) and Styx bassist Chuck Panozzo (69).

Ben Shepherd has been the bassist for Seattle rock band Soungarden since 1990. Chris Cornell formed Soundgarden out of Seattle, Washington in 1984 with guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Drummer Matt Cameron joined the band in 1986, and in 1990 bassist Ben Shepherd became the band’s permanent bassist. Soundgarden’s biggest success came in 1994 with the album Superunknown and the hits “Black Hole Sun” and “Spoon Man”. The album Down on the Upside followed in 1996 and then the band broke up the following year. They reunited in 2010 and released the album King Animal in 2012. The band returned to the road for some touring through 2017 up until the passing of singer Chris Cornell. Ben Shepherd reportedly, according to an August 2017 article in Alternative Press, implied that the band had disbanded has since disbanded. Cheers to Ben Shepherd on his birthday today!

For more on Soundgarden, check out the official band website here.

Nuno Bettencourt
Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
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James ‘JY’ Young, left, and Chuck Panozzo of Styx. Photo by Brian Bahr/Allsport
James ‘JY’ Young, left, and Chuck Panozzo of Styx. Photo by Brian Bahr/Allsport
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