"It was one of the days where you think you might not go out but I had the music in my head..."
Very famous singer/songwriter Eddie Vedder and his affection for the surfing life are already well and truly known. The baritone is close friends with Kelly Slater, barrelled at his Surf Ranch and even attended the Eddie Aikau opening ceremony. Legendary lensman Steve Sherman was there, in 2006, to capture the moment and shared with Surfer Magazine:
To everyone’s surprise, Kelly cruises to the event with Eddie borrowing one of his guns to paddle out for the ceremony. It was quite a moment. I’m on the beach shooting as all the invitees walk into the water when Kelly and Eddie stroll up getting ready to paddle out, just then Taylor Knox walks up to Eddie and surprises him! Taylor and Kelly are super good friends with Ed, so this is a great moment.
Later that night Pearl Jam played a small gig for 200 people up in the valley at the park while security roamed the bushes all around keeping people from sneaking in , it was like seeing Pearl Jam at a high school dance. They rocked the joint with Kelly sitting in on the last couple songs. Kelly had just won his eighth world title and they presented him with a guitar with the number eight painted on it. It was a musical night the North Shore won’t forget.
Entirely wonderful though did you know Vedder did not hail from the Pacific Northwest and instead came to Pearl Jam via a surf-inspired song?
The rugged 60-year-old sat down with CBS Sunday Morning, not terribly long ago, and shared his origin story, doing midnight shifts as a San Diego security guard, going for a foggy surf, becoming inspired whilst floating in the brine, running home, pressing record et voila.
History made.
But where does Pearl Jam rank on your favorite grunge-era bands of all time?
Please don’t forget to include Melvins.
