Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam
Photo: Getty Images, Scott Dudelson. All rights reserved.
Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder has announced that the grunge band wants to record their next album with producer, guitarist and songwriter Andrew Watt. Watt, 31, recently joined Vedder’s new solo band, The Earthlings. But that’s not all: The two of them worked together on Vedder’s solo album, which will be released on February 11, at Beverly Hills Studios.
Watt is in the top tier of the pop circus
Watt’s musical spectrum is wide: He was involved in seven tracks of Justin Bieber’s JUSTICE, produced Ozzy Osbourne’s ORDINARY MAN, contributed to Miley Cyrus’ PLASTIC HEARTS and in recent years has worked with artists such as Elton John, Dua Lipa, Post Malone and Sam Smith collaborated. He was named Non-Classical Producer Of The Year at the 2021 Grammy Awards.
Speaking to British music magazine Mojo, Vedder said: “We’re going to do a record with Andrew, I think.” Vedder added that Pearl Jam will be in the studio with Watt between their touring commitments “because we now have a strong, healthy ambition to do it.”
Fan since childhood
Meanwhile, Andrew Watt has been a Pearl Jam fan since childhood. In an interview with the US music magazine Billboard last month, he said, “I was born in 1990 and my brother was born in ’85, so we only listened to Pearl Jam and the Chili Peppers when we were kids,” and continued, “If I admitting how many Pearl Jam concerts I’ve attended, it probably wouldn’t be good for anything. But I went to Pearl Jam shows with a sign that said, ‘Let me play the guitar solo to ‘Alive’, so I found myself on stage at the Ohana Festival playing the guitar solo to ‘Alive’ Pearl Jam.”
“An incredible moment that comes full circle”
For Watt, the cooperation fulfilled a kind of lifelong dream: “So working with Vedder was an incredible moment that comes full circle and that I’ve been preparing for my entire life. That’s not supposed to happen – you shouldn’t have these posters on your wall and be able to work with these people.”
In March 2020, Pearl Jam released their eleventh studio album GIGATON. Eddie Vedder’s solo album EARTHLING is slated for a February 11 release and will feature the likes of Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Ringo Starr.