Director Cameron Crowe delivered his love letter to the Seattle music scene in the form of 1992’s Singles, which featured cameos from Chris Cornell, Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament and others, all pillars of the scene during that time. 

Today marks the 25th anniversary of Singles and Crowe remembered the film in a lengthy piece for Rolling Stone, where he discusses casting the rockers in the film. “Chris Cornell was somebody who I just thought, ‘This guy belongs in the movie,'” Crowe admits. “I loved Soundgarden – they were the greatest live show I’d seen. I had real strong feelings about Soundgarden and about Chris with this huge heart of his.”

Crowe is also full of stories, like how Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament worked in the art department and Vedder gave actor Matt Dillon guitar lessons. “We were all together doing this thing where we had a vague idea that we were making Seattle into this worldwide event in the film, when in fact it was a small community that was not a worldwide event at the time,” he explains. 

Watch a pair of cameos from the various members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, including Cornell leading his band through the powerful “Birth Ritual.”