The Troubles republican prisoners led to more than 500 of them in the Maze prison initiating the "blanket" and "dirty" protests. Their protests culminated in hunger strikes in 1980 and 1981, aimed at the restoration of political status, as well as other concessions. In the 1981 Irish hunger strike, ten republican prisoners (seven from the Provisional IRA and three from the INLA) died of starvation. The first hunger striker to die, Bobby Sands, was elected to Parliament on an Anti-H-Block ticket, as was his election agent Owen Carron following Sands' death. The hunger strikes resonated among many nationalists; over 100,000 people attended
Hunger Strike (song) "Hunger Strike" was first performed live at the band's November 13, 1990 concert in Seattle, Washington at the Off Ramp Café.<ref name="Fivehorizons.com - Pearl Jam: 1990/1991 Concert Chronology"></ref> In the time since the album's release, the band reformed for short live performances on four occasions where both Soundgarden and Pearl Jam were performing. Temple of the Dog performed "Hunger Strike" on October 3, 1991 at the Foundations Forum in Los Angeles, California; October 6, 1991 at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood for the "RIP" Magazine 5th anniversary party; August 14, 1992 at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, Virginia; and September