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The Best Performances of Eddie Vedder

One of the original purveyors of grunge continues to rock on. Happy 55th birthday!

Eddie Vedder of the Pearl Jam

Photo by Matteo Chinellato (Shutterstock)

Pearl Jam's beloved baritone turns 55 today.

The multi-instrumentalist has enriched American rock music since Pearl Jam's debut in 1990. Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Jeff Ament (bass), and original drummer Dave Krusen helped bring forth the era of grunge and speaking out against the soulless corporatization of the music industry (we still love that the band sued Ticketmaster for creating a monopoly over concert ticket sales). When it came to finding their name, Vedder once claimed that "Pearl Jam" was an homage to his great-grandmother Pearl. "Great-grandpa was an Indian and totally into hallucinogenics and peyote," he said. "Great-grandma Pearl used to make this hallucinogenic preserve that there's total stories about. We don't have the recipe, though." In true rock and roll fashion, he later clarified the story was "total bullsh*t" (though to be fair, he did indeed have a great-grandmother named Pearl).

As a band (and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees), Pearl Jam has more classics than we have time to list, but Eddie Vedder shines brightest on these gems:

Black

Back in the days of MTV spotlighting musicians rather than lonely strangers playing online games of catfishing and ghosting, there was MTV Unplugged. Your favorite musicians gave raw, stripped down performances of their biggest hits, revealing new layers of their talent as well as new emotional vulnerabilities of their work.

Breakerfall

The lead song on Binaural is beloved by true Pearl Jam fans, despite it never being released as a single. The pulse-quickening pace is matched with Vedder's vibrating energy and his signature rasp.

Baba O'Riley (The Who cover)

Pearl Jam's 2003 cover of The Who's classic proved that they match the talents of rock's greatest bands. Even dressed in full dad-fresh-off-the-golf-course gear, Vedder gets all of Madison Square Garden on their feet with rock and roll energy.

Baba O'Riley (The Who Cover) - Live at Madison Square Garden - Pearl Jamyoutu.be

Jeremy

As one of Pearl Jam's most well known songs, "Jeremy" can seem overplayed to some. But their 1992 performance at the Pinkpop Festival in Landgraaf, Netherlands saw Vedder at his sharpest, crooning in perfect sync with McCready and "unleashing the lion" in true Grunge spirit.

Oceans

No words. Experience this. You're welcome.

6 Times Inductees Didn't Give a F*ck About the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Ironically, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is not very rock n' roll.

Sex Pistols

Elisa Leonelli/Shutterstock

While it's rare to hear anyone excited about anything that happens in Cleveland, the music world is abuzz with news of the 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

Being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is among the top honors any musician can hope to achieve, and past inductees include a wide range of icons from Bob Dylan to Etta James to The Grateful Dead. This year's honorees include Notorious B.I.G., Whitney Houston, Pat Benatar, Dave Matthews Band, Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Judas Priest, Kraftwerk, MC5, Motörhead, Nine Inch Nails, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Todd Rundgren, Soundgarden, T. Rex and Thin Lizzy. Those who receive the most votes will be inducted May 2nd, 2020 at a ceremony at Cleveland's Public Hall.

While fans and media personnel take the Hall of Fame very seriously, it's not uncommon for rock stars to display nothing but nonchalance and cool when faced with this great honor, or even to snub it altogether—which, honestly, is pretty rock and roll. So, in celebration of the 2020 nominees, we've compiled a list of times musical icons didn't give a f*ck about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1.Todd Rundgren

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Todd Rundgren

Todd Rundgren, among the 2020 nominees, met news of this honor with a simple, "No comment." This is the second year in a row Rundgren has been nominated, and many consider it a major slight that he has yet to be included in the hall of fame. He told Billboard last year: "I didn't expect it and have never cared about it. The hardest thing was keeping my fans' expectations within reasonable bounds because they are very naive about it. I'm not; It's some weird Illuminati thing and nobody understands how it works and who does the voting and the nominee selections and all that sort of crap.

I'm not looking for some organization to acknowledge me, somehow. Besides, the Hall of Fame doesn't make any sense to me because musicians don't have to retire. Athletes retire, and that's when they go into the Hall of Fame, because they're not playing anymore. But everybody (the Rock Hall) is inducting now is still playing, so how can you say you've got the measure of them? You don't. So, no, I really don't care."

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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2020 Inductees - Popdust ›

Stevie Nicks Offers a Spell for COVID-19 (Featuring Harry Styles)

She called "Fine Line" Harry's "Rumours" in a sweet note to fans, but mostly to Harry.

Stevie Nicks posted a sweet note on Twitter today, encouraging fans to stay strong during the COVID-19 pandemic.