Eddie Vedder, still alive and doing well at 59
The Pearl Jam singer was born on this day in 1964
Eddie Vedder, still alive and doing well at 59
Eddie Vedder came to prominence as the lead singer of Pearl Jam, one of the leading bands on the Alternative Rock/Grunge movement during the early 90’s. Allthough not originally from Seattle, he end up becoming one of the most famous Seattle Rockers and together with Kurt Cobain from Nirvana, one of the most important spokesperson for the “Generation X”
Eddie Vedder was born Edward Louis Severson on December 23, 1964 in Evanston, Illinois but grew up in San Diego, California where he first started to explore music. Influenced by The Who, The Doors and the Punk Scene among others, Vedder formed and was a member of several local bands while at the same time working daytime jobs such as security guard and waiter. In San Diego he met Jack Irons, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers drummer who told him about a Seattle band that was looking for a lead singer, the band, born from the ashes of Mother Love Bone that ended prematurly due to death of their lead singer Andrew Wood, became Pearl Jam. Vedder recorded vocals for three songs of the band and sent it to Seattle, after listening to his vocals, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament immediately asked Vedder to join the band, he then became a popular Seattle musician. Before the release of Pearl Jam’s first album “Ten” in 1991, Vedder also was recruited for the supergroup Temple Of The Dog, mentored by Chris Cornell from Soundgarden and formed to record an album as a tribute to Andrew Wood. The most popular song from the Temple Of The Dog album ended up being “Hunger Strike”, a duet between Cornell and Vedder. Pearl Jam’s debut album “Ten”, was released in 1991, almost simultaneously with Nirvana’s “Nevermind”. The album became one of the most important ones of the year, along with the mentioned “Nevermind”, Soundgarden’s “BadMotorfinger”, Guns N’Roses “Use Your Illusion”, Metallica’s “Black Album” and the Temple of The Dog among others. “Ten” features some of the best and most popular Pearl Jam songs, a great part with lyrics by Vedder. In 1992, at the peak of the Grunge and Alternative Rock fever, Eddie Vedder becomes an internation Rock Star and in 1993 the band releases their second album “Vs”, that also ends up being as successful as their previous one, featuring hit songs such as “Go”, “Animal”, “Daughter” and “Rear View Mirror”. Haunted by Kurt Cobain’s suicide, Vedder starts increasingly retreating himself and hiding from the fame spotlights. In 1994 the band release their darkest album ever “Vitalogy”, again proven to be a sales success around the world.By the mid 1990’s, Vedder was one of the most influential and charismatic Rock Star, through his mannerisms and even looks. Pearl Jam music videos where the band appears were only made in the first album “Ten”, for a long period they didn’t even done any promotional videos, but that didn’t affected any of the band’s fame and popularity. Vedder also as a side solo career and has written several music for other artists and soundtracks such as “Dead Man Walking” (1995), “I Am Sam” (2001), “A Brokedown Melody (2004)”, “Body of War” (2007), “Reign Over Me” (2007) and most notably “Into The Wild” in 2007 which became his first solo album. In 2011 he released his successful second solo album “Ukulele Songs”. As an actor he had some small roles being the most famous on the 1992 movie “Singles”, that starred several famous Seattle Grunge Rockers. Vedder has performed or recorded with numerous and diverse well-known artists as: The Who, Ramones, Neil Young, R.E.M., Neil Finn, Bad Religion, The Doors, Rolling Stones, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Robert Plant, Roger Waters, Peter Gabriel, Cat Stevens, Chris Martin, Flea, Beyoncé, Bryan Adams and Dave Grohl just to name a few. Known also for his political activism, Vedder it’s very outspoken on what concerns to politics and he’s a a strong Democrat supporter. Vedder is a friend of The Who guitarist Pete Townshend, who discouraged Vedder from retiring in 1993. In late 2007, Vedder wrote the foreword to a new Pete Townshend biography, “Who Are You: The Life of Pete Townshend”, he was also a very close friend of Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell who passed away in 2017, he is also a sports person and known for practicing Surf. 26 years after the Grunge and Alternative Rock took hold of the charts around the world. Pearl Jam are now the most resistant of all famous Seattle bands and Eddie Vedder, has now proved he can ben a spokesperson for any generatio, today Eddie turns 59.
Look back at the 1992 music video for “Even Flow” by Pearl Jam
Watch Eddie Vedder’s 2011 music video for “Can’t Keep” from his album “Ukulele Songs
Listen to “Pearl Jam – rearviewmirror (greatest hits 1991-2003)” on Spotify
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