Eddie Vedder was born on December 23, 1964. When the grunge hype was at its peak and his band conquered the world with their debut “Ten,” Vedder was no longer quite a young man, but he was far from sober.
The band benefits from his sensitivity: Vedder counters the more classic rock of guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready with the delicate and also the resistant. In a dark voice he talks about life on the fringes of society; he has been raging against the conditions for decades. And yet Pearl Jam’s music always has something uplifting – you notice it at the concerts: you never feel so much euphoria with the Killers or Kings Of Leon, especially not for three hours.
Eddie Vedder had to learn composure
Eddie Vedder is a rock star, even if he rejects the term. On stage, the charismatic no longer ducks away, but comes towards the audience, tells funny stories and jokes with his colleagues. He still needs a glass of wine per performance, at least.
Vedder didn’t always seem as relaxed as he is today. For a while he was resentful of the American ROLLING STONE because he had “revealed” in 1996 that he wasn’t a complex couch potato in his youth, but an extremely ambitious surfer dude.
Kurt Cobain had previously accused him of being responsible for an “alternative and dick rock fusion”. He nibbled on it for years, then simply resigned himself to the success, which was ultimately better than any alternative. After Cobain’s death, his new philosophy was: “I’m gonna quit being a quitter.”
The Pearl Jam system runs like clockwork
In Seattle, where there isn’t much left of the grunge era, the last survivors have set up a nice headquarters. When you enter there, you feel why the Pearl Jam system has worked so well for so long: the band has been working with the same people for years, they feel comfortable in their little cosmos.
Even though Vedder speaks quietly and sometimes stammers a bit, you always get the feeling that he knows exactly what he wants. He and his colleagues also laugh with and at each other more than one would assume given the sullen songs. Eddie Vedder still sings for the losers and the lost today, but he himself has long since found his place.