Pirner was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He taught himself how to play the drums. By age 20, Pirner started his career drumming with a punk band called Loud Fast Rules as part of the Minneapolis scene, together with Karl Mueller (bass) and Dan Murphy (guitar). When Pirner switched to singing and playing rhythm guitar, Pat Morley joined on drums. Morley was later replaced by Grant Young, and the band changed their name to Soul Asylum. After touring the United States for a number of years they gathered a cult following of fans, but did not quite reach commercial visibility. Pirner at the time was the band\'s songwriter and he produced the album, Coup De Grace, by the Minneapolis metal band the Coup de Grace in 1990.\n', '

The band achieved commercial success and visibility on MTV and VH1 with the 1993 single "Runaway Train", followed by another hit song, "Black Gold"; both from their album Grave Dancers Union. As Soul Asylum grew in popularity, Pirner was seen guesting on albums of differing genres, including artists like Paul Westerberg, Jason Karaban, Mike Watt, The Autumn Defense and Victoria Williams. His disheveled appearance and blonde matted dreadlocks made an unmistakable impression on fans and critics alike, making Pirner easily recognized and associating the band with the grunge scene.\n', '

By 1999, Soul Asylum went into hiatus after making 1998\'s Candy from a Stranger, which sold the fewest copies of the three albums released at that point (after Grave Dancers Union and Let Your Dim Light Shine (1995), which yielded the big hits "Misery" and "Just Like Anyone"). After four years, Soul Asylum reunited and started writing songs in the studio. Bassist Karl Mueller died on June 17, 2005, at the age of 42 from esophageal cancer. About a year after his death, Soul Asylum released The Silver Lining on Legacy Recordings, which was dedicated to Mueller. About half the songs on the album were recorded with the late bassist, such as "Lately", "Slowly Rising" and "Standing Water". The first hit from this album was "Stand Up And Be Strong". Soul Asylum toured with their new line-up, which consisted of Pirner on guitar and vocals, Dan Murphy on lead guitar, Michael Bland on drums and Tommy Stinson on bass (as well as John Fields standing in on bass and piano for Mueller). Soul Asylum\'s latest effort was released on July 17, 2012, titled Delayed Reaction.\n', '

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