The Truth About Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder

music legend Eddie Vedder is still going strong as the frontman of Pearl Jam he's become one of the most prominent rock icons of his era and while he's never fallen into the throes of addiction he's nevertheless faced numerous challenges in his life Vetter was born Edward Lewis Severson the third on December 23rd 1964 his life got off to a rough start as his parents Karen and Edward divorced in 1965 and his mother remarried a man named Peter Moeller for much of vetters early years he was led to believe that his stepfather was his real dad and he went by the name Eddie Muller when he finally found out that he'd been lied to the truth hit him hard Vetter later told the Los Angeles Times that his childhood wasn't particularly happy the environment was tense and by age 15 he'd already moved out into his own apartment he worked at a drugstore and struggled to keep up in school he resented his peers for the privileges they took for granted such as going to prom or having parents who could give them a car as a gift for the most part he felt alone as he put it I'd fall asleep in class and they've lecture me about the reality of their classroom I said one day you want to see my reality I opened up my backpack to where you usually keep your pencils that's where I kept my bills electric bills rent that was my reality soon enough it was too much to balance and he dropped out of school by the time adolescence came along you know I didn't I didn't really trust any any adults throughout all his early struggles the one thing that consistently kept Vetter going was his passion for music a pivotal influence was the whose 1971 album whose next which was introduced to him by a babysitter by age 12 he talked his family into giving him a guitar and from then on music became as number one hobby in 1984 Vetter landed in California guitar in hand and decided to make a go at a music career he paid the bills by working as a hotel security guard while he fostered his talent by joining local bands getting past shyness was something of a struggle on stage he actually wore a mask to his early performances that consisted of goggles that had been painted over to block out the audience eventually though he grew more confident soon enough that are connected to some former members of the band Mother Love Bone who were so impressed with his song alive that they to form a band with him he followed them to Seattle and Pearl Jam was born Pearl Jam originally called themselves Mookie Blaylock after their favorite NBA player that might be a cool name for a person but it's a terrible name for a band unless all their songs are about hoops in any case they soon rechristened themselves Pearl Jam in 1991 fetter told Rolling Stone a rather fascinating origin story behind the name evidently his great-grandmother was named pearl and she used hallucinogenic ingredients like peyote to produce the world's trivias preserves in other words it was pearls jam that's a pretty cool story but it also turns out that it's a rather tall tale in 2006 veteran mitad - Rolling Stone that while his great-grandmother was indeed named pearl the whole hallucinogenic jam thing was in his words total bulk the truth is that Pearl was something that Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament randomly came up with at a restaurant in Jam refers to musical jams throughout his career Vetter has been an outspoken advocate for social causes both on and off the stage he often railed against the George W Bush administration and causes like the rights of death row inmates the treatment of animals and a woman's right to choose are all close to his heart in 2006 Pearl Jam founded the Vitalogy Foundation a nonprofit organization that supports community health education and more veter is also the co-founder of the Evie research partnership which helps fund treatments for childhood skin disorders in fact Pearl Jam has stated that they donate $2 from every ticket sold at all their shows to cause us supported by their foundation adversity you know that's that's where heroes come from and they come in all shapes and sizes obviously even relatively small matters don't escape Fedders attention as demonstrated in 2016 when he donated ten thousand dollars to a poorer Maryland family facing eviction Vetter seems like someone who always puts his money where his mouth is if he believes in a cause he dedicates himself to it one of his biggest success stories was his support of the West Memphis Three a trio of teenagers who were wrongly convicted of killing three other boys in West Memphis Arkansas as a fierce critic of the United States prison system Vetter discovered that they'd been in prison after a poorly run investigation in 1993 we are in a good spot now and we've got evidence even in the last two three years that we believe will exonerate these kids he performed benefit concerts for them which helped raise awareness for their plight when new forensic evidence was brought to light in 2011 they were released one of the biggest ways that better has struggled with fame is the conflict between his desire to connect with his fans and his need to maintain a safe distance in the beginning of Pearl Jam's explosion into the mainstream he devoted himself to his followers remembering his own loneliness as a youth he would spend hours talking to fans after shows he would converse with hundreds of people or even give out his own personal telephone number so they could talk to him if they needed help when fans wrote in letters asking what his lyrics meant he always wrote back his dedication was sincere and kind but it could also lead him to being overwhelmed by his need to not let anyone down the problems escalated when one fan turned into a stalker this particular woman held the delusional belief that Vetter was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and that he'd also fathered her two sons she eventually drove her car through the wall of vetters house almost killing herself because of this incident Beth Liebling fetters wife at the time had new fences put up around their house and ordered Pearl Jam's record company to help pay for round-the-clock security Vetter and Beth Liebling first met up and started dating when they were teenagers they stayed together as better became the frontman of Pearl Jam and Liebling who went by the stage name say d7 co-founded the experimental band hovercraft they got married in 1994 but in 2000 their relationship ended in divorce as fetter told Rolling Stone the split left him in a bad place emotionally Liebling disappeared from the public eye for a while but in 2019 she announced to come back with a new band named teleportal as for Vetter he was lucky enough to discover new and lasting love right around the corner as he eventually met a model named Jill McCormack they got married in Hawaii in 2010 and they've remained together ever since wedding attendees included Sean Penn and Jack Johnson Vetter and McCormick's family has grown over the years as they've raised two daughters named Olivia and Harper vetters reputation nice guy is fairly widespread even among those who aren't fans of Pearl Jam and surely enough he's proven to be someone who remembers those who have helped him out in the past one notable incident happened in 2001 when Vetter and five other people in saline in Hawaii only to have their canoe get overturned while half of the group were able to get back aboard after a broken mast righted the boat their paddles were lost before Vetter and two others could climb back on a powerful wind pushed the boat too far away luckily a local man named Keith Baxter and his daughter Ashley happened to be nearby Ashley heard the stranded groups voices and the Baxters were able to save their lives Vetter never forgot this in 2013 he told the story at a concert dedicated future days to Ashley and brought her out before the crowd three years later he found out that Keith Baxter had been in a terrible boating accident that left his leg nearly severed he was unable to afford the medical treatments needed to save him from infection the Baxters had already raised $70,000 on GoFundMe so Pearl Jam matched that number with an additional 70 thousand dollars much of the 90s grunge music came from a place of deep personal pain for many artists the combination of depression and sudden overwhelming fame led to drug abuse Kurt Cobain struggle with heroin remains one of the most notable tragic examples his death had better particularly hard who said at the time when I first found out I was in a hotel room in Washington DC and I just tore the place to shreds then I just kind of sat in the rubble which somehow felt right like my world at the moment but Vetter himself never really fit into this scene that so many of his peers were a part of that isn't to say that he had an easier time than others as he has struggled with depression but hard drugs simply weren't something he ever really turned to though heroin use was rampant among the music community at the time Pearl Jam stopped doing drugs pretty early on as for Vetter specifically he swore off these substances when he was a teenager that doesn't mean he's a total straightedge as he's admitted to drinking about as much as the average person does but beyond that he's never really had any notable problems with addiction or substance abuse it's not easy keeping a band together music groups tend to be chaotic keeping harmony in the which group of people can get stressful and those stresses only escalate when the members are passionate artists who have their own idea about what the band's meaning is it's no wonder that so many major bands in music history have had tragic breakup stories whether it's the Beatles parting ways sting leaving the police or the Gallagher brothers of Oasis constantly feuding don't like Asia alone did you watch him on here no Courtenay watches you oh he's obsessed Pearl Jam though are different and this was demonstrated when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 longtime drummer Matt Cameron was included in the induction alongside veteran ement lead guitarist Mike McCready and rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard so was drummer Dave cruising who worked on the band's debut album ten veteran his band mates didn't want any other former drummers to feel left out so they made it a point to publicly invite to the induction ceremony Dave Abers ease Matt Chamberlain and Jack irons the other three drummers from the band's history if there's one thing that Eddie Vedder is besides a musician and an activist it's a thrill seeker he's been known to do things like climb up girders and jump off cliffs into the sea which earned him the nickname of crazy Eddie from the Red Hot Chili Peppers perhaps his favorite thrill of all though is to be out in the ocean beneath the Sun riding a nice wave that's right Eddie Vedder is a surfing fanatic that obsession becomes increasingly clear the more you study Pearl Jam's song titles and lyrics which often involve water metaphors even flow and amongst the waves are a couple of unmissable examples surfing references also frequently peper betters dialogue as in a 1991 billboard interview in which he said things like I'm riding the wave of this music into the shoreline which is the audience better describes this hobby as a quote amazing bond with nature in fact his surfing enthusiasm goes so far that in 2019 it was announced he would appear on surfing rockers a new show featuring musicians whose careers and music were influenced by the board after all the struggles he's been through in his life well glad he's found a way to be at peace my life's been really quite full life I think of is like the best life I've ever lived check out one of our newest videos right here plus even more grunge videos about your favorite stuff are coming soon subscribe to our YouTube channel hit the bell so you don't miss a single one [Music]

Channel: Grunge

Views: 960,638

Rating: 4.8769279 out of 5

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Id: 3fjhsqMY6zA

Length: 11min 18sec (678 seconds)

Published: Mon May 25 2020