Pearl Jam Induction Acceptance Speeches - 2017 Rock Hall Inductions

[Music] Hey thank you maybe the most important reason we came here tonight is not to receive this honor but to honor those who have worked so hard for this band to help it function to help it grow till they flourish all of us could fill sheets of paper with the many names and of our loving family members our oldest and dearest friends our influences our idols our collaborators our counselors our contributors the people who mediated for us to lobby for us who assisted us in countless ways those who fought for us carried us disagreed with us gave us perspective encouraged us gave us shoulders to lean on and cry on they've done boring paperwork endless organizing agonizing phone calls computer work torturous flights drives terrible conditions they've hung lighting rigs and wound countless cables purchased thousands of tambourine changed tens of thousands of batteries and even vacuumed our brooms all to keep this fan moving along sometimes only inching forward to all these people we give our most sincere and deepest thanks your hard work and love and dedication means that this award is as much for you as it is for us you make us feel like we're one big happy family in no particular order we give our sincerest thanks to George Carey Liz Simon Kelly Curtis our manager Josh Neil Donny Nicole Kevin Brett Jimmy show Jimmy v Andy Sarah dick Oh Dave rat Pete Sonny Larry Jesse Keely blue Dan Tommy Peter Nellie Glen Garry Carol Goldie Michael Goldstone michelle anthony keith Wismar Eric Anna Elliott Brendan O'Brien our longtime producer Mark Smith thank you so much Tim be Tim T Rob Ryan Adrian Gavin will Karen Jeff Christian siggy Jamie Betsy Lee Dana Raven Scully Jeff oh the glue schnap Jaclyn Harvey Lance rod on Diana Dan Tom Conklin stranger Brian Doyle radar Davy Lampe Josh Marty Barry Coby Brad and Regan and further and further all the incredible artists who have created what might be one of our most enduring artifacts all of our incredible tour posters but even more important than all of those wonderful folks we want to thank our fans and our fan club whose believed in us carried us through the times where we didn't believe or we lost hope or we lost the plot or we lost each other thank you so much to the greater Pearl gem community whose fierce autonomy an evolving manifestation is still a source of amazement and wonder to us all keep doing what you're doing we're having so much fun watching you and lastly I want to thank our amazing wives my amazing wife Vivian her beautiful family our beautiful children viv Marlo and pay my mom and dad my sisters and their families thank you all for giving us this opportunity this on [Applause] I'd like to thank the Hall of Fame for including this amazing band and Pearl Jam saved my life and for the jamily and to my family my kids I love you guys hello-hello take it all for being here tonight we're very honored to be here as well I would just like to thank my my muse my girl my one special lady April Cameron Cameron excuse me our beautiful children Raymond and Josie I would like to thank my parents for turning me on to Count Basie and for letting me practice drums in their house for probably a decade or so I really appreciate that my brother and sister for taking him taking me to my first concert David Bowie station the station 1977 life-changing experience I would like to thank my brothers in Pearl Jam for inviting me into their incredible family their incredible band in 1998 my brothers and Soundgarden for inviting me into their band in 1986 and it's been said before but we we so appreciate the fans and the life's blood that you give to our art form rock and roll thank you you thank you thank you very much good that feels good there are pivotal moments in life that change you forever I've had many of these but the first was in 1976 I was a boy scout one day 11 years old when my friends Danny and Rick told me about the rock band Kiss I asked my parents for a guitar that night I want to thank my mom Louise McCready for her love and support for teaching me about Warhol and the Rolling Stones and dyeing my hair my dad Roy McCready thank you for giving me the love and guidance and teaching me to train my mind body and spirit thank you to my first band shadow and the free old family for letting us practice shadow five days a week for six years in their house thank you so much to my second band Pearl Jam you're my brother I love you I love you guys I love your family my dear friend Duff McKagan told me one time you guys did it right but we're only as good as the people that are around us our manager Kelly Curtis Michelle Anthony Michael Goldstone Nicole Vandenberg George Webb Donny fada Chris Adams Brendan O'Brien and everyone at our offices and our fan club our road crew and every person that holds us up so we can do we love I want to thank the Red Hot Chili Peppers for taking us out the beginning and 3t is totally right there have been many bands that inspired me many that inspired me including cheap trick Queen Bowie Hendrix the Stones Beatles UFO Kraftwerk Ramones Brandi Carlile sleater-kinney the killed Social Distortion Muddy Waters Sex Pistols The Clash and my new favorite bands under and also the sterile Amber's today a few of my friends and family a lot of user came tonight and some were unable to make it I bring you bring me laughter and teach me how to live I love all of you all of my friends and family are here tonight and all of our fans thank you for hanging out with us for so long Oh finally to my amazing wife Ashley who keep it all together keeps my world together I love you 143 and our kids kya Jackson and Henry you inspire me to be a better parent and I love you all right thank you and I was when I was 12 or 13 my uncle Pat gave me some singles of which one was the kinks well-respected man this coincided with reading Death of a Salesman in mr. B's seventh grade class after that I was put in a course to never be Willy Loman or the unhappy suit Ray Davies wrote about which somehow parlayed into a lifetime of playing bands so if I seemed a little bit nervous blame ray and Arthur Miller as I've never been very comfortable in roomful of suits in in 1983 I moved to Seattle looking for my tribe other artists musicians individuals hard workers skateboarders kids that spoke about the politics of jobs drummer Jello Biafra and Dave dictor and artists like Francis Bacon and Basquiat and Pettibone I found a lot of these folks many are still my friends I met stone we've been a month of moving to Seattle at those first Seattle punk rock shows I went to almost 35 years ago which ultimately led me to our band and our community being here with the band who have become some of my best friends in the process making music and art traveling the world supporting causes and programs together making small differences meeting great artists and creative minds all over the world that's a pretty great life it's an honor and mind-boggling to be a part of a club that includes so many of our heroes Neil the class Zeppelin the stooges cheap trick but the fact is that we were affected and infected by bands that aren't here so many important bands that may just want to pick up a guitars and write songs Roxy Music the Jam Devo acts Black Flag Dead Kennedys Jane's Addiction so many others all worthy but the very best part about tonight is that my mom who gave me the keys to the piano and the arts and my dad who taught me about hard work and community they're here with my family and as dave said earlier only they know how far it is for Big Sandy Montana to the Barclays center so this it's where every small-town kid who has a dream that's to everybody thanks to everybody who supports us and inspires us our great friends everybody who works with us with the band Kelly and George have been with us for 27 years 26 years but especially Pandora who puts up with my consistent inconsistency every day thank you I love love you all right very kind thank you so much I just like to start by thanking all those who who came before us the trilobite the tetrapods the primates Homo erectus without them we'd be so much less evolved and here we are in in our modern technology advanced technology age and we've got a lot of evolving to do it's evolution baby so climate change is real that is not fake news and we we cannot cannot be the generations that history will look back upon and wonder why didn't they do everything humanly possible to solve this biggest of crisis in our time anything can be obtainable the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series this this is proof and I use that analogy because in regards to the climate change because it can be done but but here's the thing we don't have a hundred and eight years to wait I'm lucky and grateful are two things I am everyday and I'm just grateful to be alive and and I also I want to publicly apologize you know all the you know making our band mates making my bandmates suffer with a singer who was climbing on the rafters and hanging off of pipes and jumping off a balconies and they really didn't deserve that and but you know they didn't know that the person that they gave the job to that their singer was was really into Evel Knievel but it was it was also the power of music I swear I used to be able to like hold my whole body up with one finger and but if you if the music wasn't playing I couldn't do it with both hands it's the power of rock and roll one illustration uh when I when I think about high altitudes I think about my wife Jill if you've ever you know a kite does not rise into the air unless someone is holding the string oh shoot honey I thought you were sitting down in front but it's so important you know especially if that if that kite gets way high in the air you really have to trust the person holding the line and that person has to be loyal and believing you and then have the strength to reel you back and so my wife Jill I thank you and I am looking forward to all our future days on the ground together and and I'm glad I get to hold the cord for you when you get to soar as you do my two daughters Olivia and Harper I try to teach them everything I know and then they teach me the rest which is more of that than what I do know so I'll get to you and and if somehow someway chance the rapper ever sees or hears this I just want to tell them my daughter Olivia loves you and we you have our highest approval and I also chance want to thank you for all the great work you're doing in Chicago that's the kind of music activism that gives us all hope so these three girls I just can't tell you I just love them more than anything and that's a lot because it says a lot because I really love the WHO and the Ramones and the band and Fugazi and Iggy Pop and sleater-kinney in the guided by voices and the list goes on because I've listened to music every day in my life for my whole life and and a lot of that was in small apartments when I grew up we lived in some tight spaces with my family my mom's here my brothers my mom never some really good parenting she wouldn't tell us to turn it down she would just kind of end up being fans of the bands that we were playing very loudly and my brothers who we grew up listening all that music together I always try to play our songs our new songs to them first so there's such a good barometer and they've known me long enough they know when I'm pulling some kind of so they keep me honest and keep the records true Jase Mike Chris we missed you Jean I love you too you know how lucky I was to meet Jack irons I was working in a club and Jackie right there I'm working as a crew guy at a Joe Strummer gig at a little club in San Diego before my midnight shift I get to meet Jack who was the original drummer and the Chili Peppers he also is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame already he's here tonight without meeting him none of this happened because I don't mean Jeff and stone I'm not in this building I'm probably not even on the planet I'm certainly not in the spot that I'm sitting down now or standing in now Jack thanks so much and thanks for your friendship and and you're a great drummer for our group some somehow somehow we were so fortunate that you know we had a few drummers and you know taking that feat in the drum stool or the throne because they were all kings we're so fortunate every one of them was great we've got but Matt Cameron has really been the one that really kept us alive for this last 15 16 17 years at a time when we didn't know if we weren't sure what was going to happen and he enabled us not just to survive but to thrive and and he became one of our brothers and he was going to end up receiving this accolade with either us or his other group which are pretty damn good so he'll be back we had the great Dave Abbruzzese he was a great drummer he is a great drummer they're great drummer and we wish him well Matt Chamberlain Jack and and now Dave cruisin who we got to play with this week for the first time in 25 years it's great to see him he's a great person and speaking of days Dave Abbruzzese Dave cruisin I really want to thank Dave Letterman for being part of our honor tonight he doesn't know but when I used to work a midnight shift for years midnight shifts I'd get there 11:00 to 7:00 and there was a small red TV out of the security guard it was a small red TV and dave was my co-pilot every weekday every night I worked for four years and to have him be up here we're so honored to be it's an honor to be honored by him and and also he did have so many great bands on his show that that they fans I saw so many bands that later became influences the first time on the Letterman Show and and I'm just going to tell you my side of that quick story when when I came into his studio and and took the mic and sang black he was doing that to do do do to do did it he was doing that every night for about three months and I was always watching the show and it was starting to make me crazy and and then it got it started getting weird at one point I remember I smoked a little something I'm sitting there end of the night I'm kind of relaxing and and he kept asking Paul when is this band going to be on the show when is they gonna be on the show he goes I don't know I haven't have you called him I haven't and he start this is he starts looking in the TV now I'm stoned to the bejeezus and Dave Letterman who is my co-pilot bag on the security thing he just looks into the camera which is looking into my bedroom Eddie Eddie come here Eddie it was I thought the TV was talking to me I lost my mind seriously thought like you know you got you might have to go to rehab cuz you're tripping balls right now so so lastly we've been through a lot this group and and if it worked for everybody out there who cared about our music if it weren't for everybody out there who came to the shows and brought their energy if it weren't for those were the things that really kept us together and we felt a responsibility to the music that was bigger than ourselves or whatever our own personal needs of space or whatever it was we knew that we were better together than apart and it was you that that galvanized us and forged a brotherhood and a family I love these people so much and we love hanging out and we love touring we love playing we love riding we love recording and I feel like maybe we're about halfway there to deserve something of this this an accolade of this kind of stature maybe halfway there but this this is very encouraging and we're very grateful and thank you very very [Applause]

Channel: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Views: 1,420,398

Keywords: pearl jam, eddie vedder, jeff ament, matt cameron, stone gossard, dave krusen, mike mccready, seattle grunge bands, grunge rock, rock and roll, better man song, alive song, ten album, 90s rock, rock and roll hall of fame, rock hall inductions

Id: yB1QrifcO3g

Length: 23min 49sec (1429 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 10 2017