• December 23, 1964
• He's very much associated with the Seattle music scene, but Eddie Vedder was born in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, and moved to San Diego with his family in the mid-'70s. He came to Seattle when the band Mother Love Bone lost their lead singer to a heroin overdose, and members formed a new band. Looking for both a drummer and lead singer, they approach Jack Irons from the Red Hot Chili Peppers about playing drums. Iron's couldn't take the gig, but knew Vedder and delivered the band's instrumental demo tape to him. In one day, Eddie wrote lyrics to the three songs, put his vocals on them using his 4-track home recorder, and sent the tape to the band, earning him the Pearl Jam lead singership.
• Eddie's biological father left the family when he was one year old. His mother soon remarried and Vedder was raised to believe his stepfather Peter Mueller was his biological father, an event he mentions in the song "Alive." He received a guitar from his mother on his twelfth birthday and music and basketball soon became two of his passions.
• As a senior in high school, Vedder lived on his own but had a hard time balancing school with work. He dropped out of high school but earned his GED in the early 1980s while working as a waiter.
• Before forming Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder sang in various bands in the San Diego area, including Surf and Destroy and The Butts. He once played in a band called Indian Style with drummer Brad Wilk, who went on to successful stints in Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave.
• Eddie Vedder's band Pearl Jam released their debut album Ten on Epic Records in 1991. The album was a massive success and shot the band into stardom. Rolling Stone placed Ten at #207 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album also earned Pearl Jam numerous Grammy and MTV award nominations.
• When he came to Seattle, Vedder became good friends with Chris Cornell. The first day he was there with his new band, he sung on "Hunger Strike," a song Cornell wrote for the Temple of the Dog project, which was formed to honor the deceased Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood. Cornell was very supportive of Vedder, showing around the area often with some cheap beer nearby.
• Actor/Director Sean Penn hand picked Eddie Vedder to write the soundtrack for his 2007 movie Into The Wild. Penn starred in Dead Man Walking and I Am Sam, two movies which previously featured Vedder's songs. After watching a rough version of Into The Wild, Vedder wrote songs for three days straight. The first single from the soundtrack was a cover of the Indio song "Hard Sun."
• Vedder has inducted three different artists into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame: The Doors (1993), the Ramones (2002), and R.E.M. (2007).

Comments

More Songfacts:

Stop Your SobbingPretenders

"Stop Your Sobbing" was first recorded by The Kinks in 1964. It became the Pretenders first single 15 years later, leading to a relationship between Ray Davies and Chrissie Hynde.

PhotographEd Sheeran

Ed Sheeran thought he wrote the x track "Photograph" on 6th Street in Denver, so he got a tattoo saying 6 ST. But when he returned it turned out the street was actually 6th Avenue.

MMMbopHanson

Hanson's megahit "MMMbop," released when they were teenagers, is surprisingly profound. Zac Hanson told Songfacts it "represents a frame of time or the futility of life."

Head Over HeelsThe Go-Go's

"Head Over Heels" by The Go-Go's is a metaphor for how things were getting out of control for the band; they broke up a year later.

MMMbopHanson

"MMMbop" by Hanson was so ubiquitous in 1997 that when the band appeared on SNL, they took part in a skit where Helen Hunt and Will Ferrell seek retribution by trapping them in an elevator and playing the song until they crack. "Now, you will suffer like we did," Hunt tells them.

1979Smashing Pumpkins

"1979" by Smashing Pumpkins is about Billy Corgan entering adulthood. A more accurate year would be 1983, but 1979 was easier to rhyme.

Editor's Picks

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."