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Eddie Vedder (born Edward Louis Seversen III on 23 December 1964) is the lead singer, and one of four guitar players for the grunge band Pearl Jam. He is notable for his deep baritone vocal style.
Early years
Eddie was born and raised in Evanston, Illinois, outside Chicago. After his parents divorced in 1965, when Eddie was only one year old, his mother married a man named Peter Mueller.
In the mid-1970s, the family, including Eddie's three younger half-brothers, moved to San Diego County, California. It was at this point that Eddie, who had received a guitar from his mother on his 12th birthday, began turning to music as a source of comfort. Eddie's mother and Mueller divorced when Eddie was in his late teens. His mother and brothers moved back to the Chicago area, but Eddie remained with his stepfather in California so he would not have to change high schools. It was not until some time after the divorce that Eddie learned the truth about his parentage. The man he thought was his biological father was revealed to be his stepfather, and his real father was someone he knew as just a casual acquaintance (Eddie wrote about this in the Pearl Jam song "Alive"). His already bad relationship with his stepfather became increasingly strained, and Eddie eventually dropped out of San Dieguito High School and joined the rest of his family in Chicago. He also changed his name to Eddie Vedder, "Vedder" being his mother's maiden name.
In 1984, Vedder returned to San Diego with his girlfriend, Beth Liebling. He kept busy recording demo tapes at his home and working at various jobs, including a position as night attendant at a local gas station, and as a contracted security guard at the La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla. Soon the rather shy singer became the vocalist for San Diego band Bad Radio.
After leaving Bad Radio, Vedder's friend and former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons gave him a demo tape from a band in Seattle that was looking for a singer. Vedder recorded vocals for three of the songs, which later became Pearl Jam's "Alive", "Once", and "Footsteps". Vedder wrote the song lyrics as a mini-opera, which is known as the "Mamasan trilogy", about a young man scarred by both the death of his father and an abusive mother ("Alive"). The man grows up to become a serial killer ("Once") and is eventually imprisoned and sentenced to death ("Footsteps"). When they heard the tape, guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament invited Vedder to come to Seattle to audition for the band that soon became Pearl Jam. They were instantly impressed with his unique sound and the fact that he knew a little about Andrew Wood.
Very soon after joining Pearl Jam, even before recording Ten, Vedder was brought in to provide backing vocals on the Temple of the Dog album, a tribute to late Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood that featured members of both Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.
With Pearl Jam
In Pearl Jam, Vedder plays guitar on many songs (He is first credited on guitar on Vs.'s "Rearviewmirror"), as well as other instruments, including the ukulele, the drums, keytar, cowbell, harmonica, accordian, sitar (which he plays during the hidden track at the end of 'Inside Job' on Pearl Jam's 2006 self-titled album, and the tambourine, which he often breaks out for the final songs of a show and casts into the crowd at the end.
On Pearl Jam records he uses the pseudonym "Jerome Turner" for his non-musical (usually design and artwork) functions. He has also sometimes used the pseudonym of "Wes C. Addle" ("West Seattle").
In addition to his vocals, Eddie became well known for extreme and political acts during live shows. During the 1992 Lollapalooza shows, he got into a bile drinking contest with Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell that he eventually won. Cornell was the first to drink it, followed by Ministry's Al Jourgensen, who told both Eddie and Chris that he drank more than them. At this point, Cornell bowed out but throughout the tour, Eddie and Al kept at it. Upon the tour ending, Eddie says, "I have drunk two quarts more than you, Al, and I've won.". During Pearl Jam's MTV Unplugged performance, Vedder (in behaviour very unusual for an Unplugged show) stood atop his stool, took out a marker pen and wrote PRO-CHOICE down his arm in large letters, baiting the supposedly "conservative" heads of MTV. Pearl Jam were one of the headliners of the 2004 Vote for Change Tour. He is also known for making political commentary throughout the band's live performances, often talking to the crowd and discussing politics with them onstage.
He is known for playing "presets" at Pearl Jam shows, coming onstage with just a guitar (sometimes with a harmonica) and playing one or two songs to warm up the audience for the opening band.
Other musical activities
In addition to playing with Pearl Jam, and Temple of The Dog, Vedder has performed and recorded with numerous well-known artists, including Bruce Springsteen, U2, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Neil Finn, Robert Plant, Bad Religion, R.E.M., Rolling Stones, The Strokes, My Morning Jacket, Kings Of Leon, Sonic Youth, The Who, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Supersuckers, Ramones, C Average, Ben Harper, Cat Power, Zeke, Peter Frampton, Wolfmother, and the remaining members of The Doors.
Eddie Vedder made an appearance during The Strokes performance of "Juicebox" in New York during Rolling Stone's 1000th issue party, with Vedder contributing vocals during the chorus. Vedder said in an interview with Rolling Stone that he feels the 2006 release of The Strokes album First Impressions of Earth is one of his favorite albums to recently be released.
Personal life
Vedder married longtime girlfriend Beth Liebling in 1994. The couple divorced in 2000.
Vedder is currently married to Jill McCormick. They have one daughter, Olivia, who was born in 2004.
Trivia
- Vedder is a surfer and active in surf related conservation efforts; most notably, the Surfrider Foundation . He's a good friend of Kelly Slater, with whom he played for example "Rockin' in the free World" the 7th of July 2006 in San Diego.
- Was featured in an episode of the documentary series "Iconoclasts" with famed surfer Laird Hamilton in 2006.
- Vedder shows his support for radical environmental activism by sporting an Earth First! tattoo on his right calf. The logo is of a monkey wrench crossed with a stone hammer.
- Donated more than $10,000 from a local concert towards the construction of a theater for his high school.
- Eddie is a close personal friend of legendary The Who guitarist Pete Townshend, and was a close friend of the late Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone, being by Johnny's side on his deathbed. Since Johnny's death, Eddie and Pearl Jam have played a cover of Ramones' hit "I Believe In Miracles" regularly at live shows.
- Inducted both Neil Young and the Ramones into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- The Pearl Jam fan base claims many frontmen in the 1990s and early 2000s have attempted to imitate Vedder's deep vocal range and singing style, including the frontmen of Stone Temple Pilots, Creed and Puddle Of Mudd, among others.
- Local H made a song entitled "Eddie Vedder," which appears on the album As Good as Dead.
- "Weird Al" Yankovic wrote a song entitled "My Baby's In Love with Eddie Vedder," which appears on the album Running with Scissors.
- Is listed in the special thanks section of Jackass: Number Two and all of the CKY films.
- Appeared on the covers of the October 25, 1993, issue of Time Magazine, and the June 2006 issue of Rolling Stone.
- Vedder is a vegetarian
- In the song "Life after Lisa" by Bowling for soup, he sings "You stole my heart when Eddie Vedder was king"
