Doctor saves voice of ‘new friend’ Eddie Vedder

Suddenly Marco Franken (67 years old) was the best doctor in the Netherlands. At least, according to Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder. He thanked the ENT doctor on Monday evening in front of thousands of fans in the Ziggo Dome for his work. After his first song, Vedder said, “I made a new friend.” Two photos of the singer appeared on the big screens together with the doctor who gave him back his voice. Franken, by telephone afterwards: „I am glad he did not call me on stage. But if Eddie Vedder asks, then you go.”

Last week, American rock band Pearl Jam — their song ‘Alive’ has nearly 400 million streams on Spotify — canceled performances in Vienna, Paris and Prague because lead singer Eddie Vedder’s voice was malfunctioning. The same fate awaited the Dutch fans who had tickets for the band’s subsequent performances in Amsterdam, where Pearl Jam would play on both Sunday and Monday evenings. In the end, Sunday’s show was canceled at the end.

Stay until closing number

Thanks to Franken’s expertise — who often assists artists with voice problems — the Monday show was able to continue. The doctor was in the room “also at Pearl Jam’s request” because he was “responsible,” so he stayed until the closing number. Where the singer was clearly a fan of the “best doctor in the Netherlands”, that was not the case the other way around. Franken: „I did know a few of his songs. I was pleasantly surprised to be there. That was just a party.” Whether he is the best doctor in the Netherlands? “Of course not.”

Last Friday morning Franken’s phone rang. It was concert organizer Mojo. Pearl Jam had just canceled the concert in Prague and Mojo wanted to try and save the shows in Amsterdam. Pearl Jam was scheduled to land there on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 PM. “They asked if I could be ready to meet Eddie at the hotel an hour later.” There Franken found a “sad Eddie Vedder.”

His focus on artists started in 1995 when Franken helped an artist who played a supporting role in a musical by Joop van der Ende. After that treatment went well, word of mouth did the rest. “At some point you have two singers, until the consulting room is full.”

Franken: “When singers are let down by their voice, their soul, the reason they are on earth, is affected.” What went wrong with Eddie Vedder’s voice is professional secrecy, the doctor says. “But it is often a matter of overload for artists, sometimes in combination with infection.”

In order to regain the bond of trust between the artist and the voice, the voice doctor must above all show that his plan is working. And a little fast: where time heals most voice problems, Franken provides an “accelerated way to the exit”.