“I was a little nervous”: The artist Eddie Vedder was starstruck by
It is hard to imagine a rock star with the fame and notoriety of somebody like Eddie Vedder being intimidated by anybody. As the songwriter and vocalist for Pearl Jam, the Illinois-born musician has been performing for thousands of adoring fans for upwards of three decades. From his grunge origins to the arena rock that Pearl Jam eventually adopted, Vedder has been something of a constant in American rock. In essence, though, he is still just a humble music obsessive like the rest of us.
As you can probably gather from listening to the diverse sounds of Pearl Jam, Vedder has always maintained an endearingly broad range of musical influences. Like many musicians of the grunge generation, the songwriter had a natural appreciation for punk rock icons like The Clash and The Ramones but, conversely, Vedder also held a special place in his heart for the world of classic rock. Alongside a love for Pink Floyd, Neil Young, and The Who, Vedder has a natural affinity for the tones of Eddie Van Halen.
Van Halen is among the most iconic and influential guitarists of all time, so it makes sense that Vedder would harbour a degree of hero-worship with regard to the American rock legend. While Van Halen’s complex classic rock might have been at odds with the abrasive simplicity of the grunge era, Pearl Jam’s diverse sound has always borne the influences of the guitarist.
Sadly, Eddie Van Halen passed away in 2020 following a stroke, extinguishing one of the brightest flames of the rock and roll world. However, before the decline in his health, Eddie Vedder gets the chance to meet his ultimate hero. During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, the Pearl Jam songwriter reflected on the daunting experience of meeting Van Halen, given the incredible influence Van Halen had over Vedder.
The pair crossed paths after a Van Halen performance in Washington back in 2012. Recalling the experience, Vedder shared, “I’m looking for some CDs or something, and I got nothing. So then I remember I had an 8-track, like a ghetto blaster, but for 8-tracks, these kind of red things,” continuing, “I brought ‘Van Halen l’ and [Van Halen] II’ on 8-track, and that’s what we cranked on the way to the Tacoma Dome.”
Vedder then brought those 8-track tapes into the show with him, “I was like you know, ‘I’m going to take that in, because we might get to meet him, and I might even get him to sign this damn thing’.” Of course, Vedder did end up meeting Van Halen. “I was a little nervous,” he remembered, “because if you are Eddie Van Halen, you could be a complete asshole and I would totally respect that. You could be however you want if you’re Eddie Van Halen. It turned out that he was the sweetest, sweetest guy.”
The songwriter seemed to be utterly starstruck by seeing Van Halen in the flesh. “I kind of sheepishly say, ‘Hey, Ed, would it be funny if I asked you to sign this thing?’” Vedder said, “He said [to his son, Wolfgang], ‘This is what we used to put out.’ He explained it. So I have this nice thing where he wrote, ‘To Eddie, from Eddie’”.
